Thursday, 30 September 2010

RC - Challenges we are faced with, continued

Our concept is an ambitious one, due to us needing several locations to fit our storyline. This is why I have decided to research locations for each possible scene...
  • Good girl's house - suburbs, middle class house
  • Bad girl's house - council estate, flat, in town
  • Band practice location for good boy - school location?, town
  • Pub for bad boy - in town, grotty,
  • House party? - in town, abandoned looking house?
  • Drama studio for performance scenes - in school

Although we have these sorts of locations in mind we have haven't actually found ones that replicate these ideas, however, to resolve this dilemma I am going seek out music videos that provide us with inspiration for possible locations and clarify to us what it is we are actually looking for...





All American Rejects -'gives you hell';

-The house shown at the very beginning of the video (0.01-0.03) is of a typical suburban (white picket fence, front lawn...) style, and is a house that I imagine the 'good girl' to live in. Now it is just the case of finding a house similar to this, in our country (not in America like this one), which I think we will find quite difficult. It will be a lot more simple, and easier, if we could find a location like this which is reasonably close to us.


I was watching a video of Jamie T's to his song 'If you got the money' and found that I quite liked the location...
...it is of a club scene, which is the sort of location we visualised for our video. However, getting this sort of location with no budget is nearly impossible, because it would mean us having to hire out a club. I think this is for the better anyway, as having a party which is situated in a house and not a club would be cheaper, plus perhaps more relevant to our concept. Despite this, the reason why I liked this visual image from Jamie T's video is because of the atmosphere created, where the lighting and tone adds to the authenticity and realistic interpretation of a party scene.

(I am also going to add some photos of possible locations I took...)



Wednesday, 29 September 2010

JM - Solving Problems

I am using this technical analysis in order to solve a problem that we may encounter in the shooting of our music video. In our video we plan to film a section of our video and then play it forward in order to give and effect of things flying at the lead singer.

In the music video for 'The Scientist' by Coldplay the entire narrative is shot forwards and then played backwards. This gives a similar effect to what we want to do with our music video. At one point in the video, we see a coat on the ground. then it flies into the lead singers hand and he walks away backwards. They get this effect by having the lead singer walk up to a spot, then throw his jacket to the ground. This therefore gives the show effect of the coat flying into the lead singers hand.



However for our video, we want the lead singer to be walking forward, so in order to combat this we will have the lead singer perform all the actions backward so that the sequence in fact looks forward.

JM - Concept Development

Today in class (29th September) we each took a copy of the lyrics to 'Technodanceaphobic' and planned on that sheet what part of our video would work with the song and also, to try and come up with any new ideas we could think of.

During today's leeson it became apparent that the concept for our music video was coming along nicely and we were able to fit most of our ideas and formulate some new ones. We now know what parts of our narrative will fit where in the song, and also where we are going to have a photo montage and our performance elements.

Some of ideas and possible plans for the video now include:
- To film a shot of the lead singer backward, and then play it forwards to give the effect that his coat just flies off the wall to him-
- To have our 4 other 'characters' be part of one narrative. Our idea would now to have all 4 characters on their way to a party. The good girl will leave her house and pick up each of the other characters in turn.
- We plan to have a photo montage of the party that the characters get to.
- Another idea that we have had is that we will now have an all male band in our performance shots. We strayed away from our idea of having the characters in the band as 'The Enemy' are an all male band and therefore we would want to make a promotion that showed that.

RC - Challenges we are faced with...

Today we listed a few problems, minor and major, that we are faced with, with our music video:
  • Character profiles
  • Locations - specific to each character's profile
  • Actors?
  • Muscians?
  • How are we going to shoot the car sequence effectively?
  • Where are we going to incorporate the photo montage sequence(s)?
One problem I am keen on resolving is the car sequence, because although I think that this is a good idea, we are concerned over whether it will look realistic or not.
Today we went on a reccie during our lunch break in the hopes to practice this sequence, however, we faced difficulties; with only a hour to complete the reccie we knew our time was limited, what we were not anticipating was the battery running out, therefore this shortened our time filming. This meant that we did not get the amount of footage we were hoping for or even get the chance to experiment with different camera shots and techniques.
I have decided to look at a couple of music videos where a car sequence is featured so I can use them for beneficial reasons:

I visited the BUG Videos website, a suggestion made by my teacher, and found a video called 'Lux Deluxe' by the Cinnamon Chasers:



The concept of this video is intriguing, innovative and very creative. The use of POV shots throughout presents a whole new dimension to the video and if it weren't for our concept being already cemented I would consider using this idea. Despite this, it is the car scenes that interest me the most, which is why I have decided to do a mini technical analysis of these sections...

(0.30-0.32) POV, MS, panning right of driver steering the wheel; POV, MS, driver steering wheel, taking off bottle lid, appears to be different time of day; POV, MS, pan right to driver chucking the lid onto the passenger seat.
(0.49-0.52) POV, pan right to MS of female dancing in passenger seat; POV, MS, female dancing in passenger seat, driver's arm on show moving in a dance fashion; POV, MS, pan left of driver's arm dancing its way back to the steering wheel; POV, moving in CU of girl dancing towards the driver, lips puckered as if she is about to kiss him.
(1.03-1.06) POV, MS, driver driving at night with the female passenger in the frame; POV, MS, sped up motion of driver driving, with the female passenger still in shot; POV, MS, pan right to full image of female leaning forward. >this is the most relevant car sequence as it is filmed at night time and uses fast motion.

After looking at these two short sequences, I have learnt how the use of POV shots can be ultimately effective by creating a new layer of visuals and although we will not be using POVs throughout our video it is a technique that we should consider using when it comes to our car sequence.

Tuesday, 28 September 2010

CH - Technical Analysis

By completing a technical analysis, we are able to discern techniques other artists have used and how we might benefit thus; this might be the discovery of a particular shot, a narrative idea, a performance technique or the overall aesthetics of the video.

After discussing the possible ideas we may follow through for our video, we drew up a list of problems we are facing. One of these problems is the use of light in our performance shots; we are inexperienced with lighting equipment and techniques, but are looking into different ideas we could experiment with. This in mind, I conducted my techinical analysis of 'Watercolour' by Pendulum. Even though it is quite unlike the style we are looking into for our own video, I was struck by the fantastic lighting techniques installed, making a performance-based video, which could easily become dull and drawn out, into a piece of artwork and keeps the audience enthralled to the very last.

Pendulum's "Watercolour": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEPB7uzKuh4&ob=av3e

Below is an extract from a list of the shots used in this video and a few audience readings of how these shots could be viewed;
  • ECU of a bloodshot eye half in darkness, incredible quality of image showing the indepth colouring in the iris, shading, changing colour of skin etc
  • CU panning of profile of singers face in half light; a beam of light illuminating only a banner across the screen, making us focus on the singers face
  • CU handycam of singers face as the light increases, moving into pull-back focus and returning, distorting their face then returning it to clarity as we see it in full light
  • ECU handycam of profile of singers mouth as he sings in changing light; the beam illuminates a growing portion of the screen, making us follow the words as he sings them (but NOT first person mode of address)
  • M/LS of singer stood in twin beams of light; one on his face, making us watch his performance (includes the audience) the other moving across his body, voyeuristic notion of looking
  • LS of a crowd sillhouetted by intense light behind them. Shot lasts >1 second. Gives the audience feel that they are there
  • ECU handycam of singers face in half shadow again; uses pullback focus to increase the notion of movement
  • MS panning shot of singers profile, beam of light increases to include his whole face- audience feel more connected
  • LS singer standing face-on in full lights (first shot breaking the 4th wall)
  • CU focusing in and out on the hand of the singer in changing light gripping the mic
  • MS of singer panning in intense bright light
  • MS/CU of drummer panning left-to-right, action shot of the cymbols being hit in semi-slow motion
  • MS/CU of drummer handycam motion moving as the light around him changes illuminating aspects of performance and face
  • CU of drummers face in half-light like that of the singer, slight movement at all times
  • MS of drummers torso and cymbols in half shadow casting reflections off the cymbols as they are played
  • CU panning around drum kit in beams of light, sillhouetting actions in great detail making the audience 'feel' the music as we see the drums being hit and reverberating

The above 16 shots compose almost 40 seconds of video, giving each shot just above 2 seconds run time. This is an incredibly fast cutting rate; the audience are left feeling exhilerated and almost scared by the dark connotations of the video (almost shot entirely in black and white, emphasizing the stark lighting).
I love the lighting techniques used in this video. The shot left is the second shot used in the video; close up handycam shot of the singers face in half lighting. Admittedly, this sort of lighting has probably been achieved in a studio by proffessional stage artists. However, by studying the shots and the overall aesthetics of the video, I believe we could aim to achieve something not unlike these shots with our own amateur equipment; by blacking out our own performatince studio, we could possibly create the shadows and darkness in this video. The beams of light may prove to be more of a challenge, as the look of torches or staging lighting may look amateur and tacky, but I think the HD quality of our new cameras would be substantially able to capture images as clear as Pendulum's, unlike the DV cameras which would have made even considering shooting in half-light impossible.

Besides from lighting, the one thing that struck me most about this video (and many other perforomance based videos I have seen) is the complete lack of still shots. Even if the shot is an ECU or in-detail CU, there is always a slight movement to the camera; even if the shots are not pedding, panning or handycam they always maintain a level of movement, whether this be a slight shake or a barely discernable rocking. This constant movement makes the video fit the music perfectly; it never stops, never slows down, keeps the audience 'feeling' the music as its' tempo changes. I think that movement is something we should consider highly throughout our video, as the lack of it could leave it looking shabby or too film-like.

Group - Reccie plans

Tomorrow we are planning on carrying out a reccie, which will be situated in a car. This will allow us to practice the car sequence that we are planning on doing for our music video, in the hopes that we can explore a range of shots that will produce the effect of a car driving quickly, at night time. Although we are going to be filming during the day for this reccie we are going to try and edit the footage in Premiere so to achieve the look of a night time drive. If this does not work then we will know that when it comes to the real thing we are going to have to film at night.

On Saturday Casey and I are hoping to attend a house party and film a group of teenagers having a good time. Our aim is to make it look as realistic as possible, which is why the party we are attending is in fact a real one, where our aim is to capture realistic moments.

JM - Technical Analysis - Arctic Monkeys 'Leave Before the Lights Come On'



For My technical analyisis I chose the Arctic Monkeys 2006 single 'Leave Before the Lights Come On'. I chose this song because it is of a very similar genre to our chosen track 'Technodanceaphobic'. The video is also a very good example of a music video with a well structured narrative, which is the area of our music video that I am most interested in developing.

Throughout this music video there are is a lot of camera movement and 'handy-cam' which helps give the music a feeling of verisimilitude. This feel is further aided through the use of 6 seconds of diagetic sound at the start of the video.

-CU of lead male charcter (M) walking (7secs)



-CU of lead female character (F), F walks forward to ECU (7secs)
-MLS of F, side on, standing on building edge (2secs)
-CU of M walking (2.5secs)
-ECU of F (2.5)



-POV looking down to street from F (2secs)
-Low angle shot looking up from street to show F on building edge
-CU of M walking (2secs)
-ECU of F (2secs)
-MS behind M walking (7secs)
-CU front M, stops picks up shoe that fell (6secs)
-Low angle, possibly POV from M, zoom to MS of F (4secs)
-CU of M looking up (2secs)
-Low angle MS of F (2secs)
-High angle down stairs, M running (.5secs)
-Low angle up stairs, slight pan, M running (1.5 secs)
-MS of M exiting door onto roof (2secs)
-LS of M running (1sec)
-ECU of F, M in background running toward F (2secs)
-LS of M runningin BG, toward F FG (1.5secs)
-MS of M stopped (1.5secs)
-CU of F (1.5secs)
-ECU of F in FG, M in BG but out of focus (2secs)
-LS of M reaching for F (1.5secs)
-MS from side of M and F, M reaching out (2secs)
-CU of outstretched hand and clenched fist of F (1.5secs)



-CU of F (1sec)
-CU of M and F hands meeting (2secs)
-MS from side of M and F hugging (1.5secs)
-CU of hug from behind F (1sec)
-MS hug (side) (1.5secs)
-CU of hug from behind M, F crying (1.5secs)

I only analysed about half of this video, up until about 1 minute 19 seconds.

Evaluation
From this technical analysis I have learnt about how you can have a music video that is purely narrative based and that is shot more like a film. I feel that this video and others that I have viewed from a similar style and gnere will help me and the rest of my group to get the narrative sections of our music video clearer and well structured.
In relation to our concept development this has enabled us to look at our concpt development more closely. We have decieded that it would be good to have links between each of our characters and that in order for our video to be a success and not be boring e need to structure our narrative well.

Monday, 27 September 2010

CH - Audience Research Proposal

To what purpose is audience research?
Audience research is an invaluable piece of research. Using it correctly, we can conclude if our concept is feasable and would be recieved well; audience research is a method used professionally throughout the media, and without it companies would not know if their product is likely to be popular or what their product should be. For instance, if a company completed audience research on a brand of cologne targeted at 13 year old boys, and the conclusion of their audience research was that no 13 year old boy would wear this cologne, the product idea would be scrapped as there is no market for it (and the company would therefore not make any money).
Firstly, we need to assess the target audience.

Our product is a music video. Quoting directly from critical theorist Goodwin, a music video is: "A clip that responds to the pleasures of music, and in shich that music is made visual, either in new ways or ways that accelerate existing visual associations"


From research, we know there are two types of audiences for a music video; focussed and ambient. Focussed viewing is like that of a TV Programme; members of the audience who actively watch music videos as a form of entertainment and pay attention to what is being portrayed. In opposition to this, ambient viewing is the members of an audience who would listen to the music but not necessarily remember or even notice the video unless it is incredible or memorable. Music videos should aim to appeal to both audiences, as they are essentially an advert (following postmodernism in the action of both being considered an art form and an advertisement, like the Campbell Soup by pop artist Andy Warhol) and therefore are selling their product, the music.



Our target audience is likely to be 15-24 year olds, as not only are teenagers most likely to watch music videos (being part of a generation raised on a cultural saturation of postmodernism) but they are also near the age of the arists performing our song. This means that they are most likely to relate to the music, as it is written not just by people of their age but concerning people of their age. Indie music is known to appeal almost fundamentally to teenagers, as to be 'Indie' is to be against the norm, to be free and without rules; a running theme in the changing lives of teenagers.
Therefore our audience research will have to be centred around 19-24 year olds.


What style will our audience research have?
As a music video is very personal and creative, we will not be looking for quantitive data; unlike that of film research, which can be compiled on their previous choice of films or preferences thereof, music videos are relatively new and startlingly different to one another. Therefore it is difficult to make straight statistical comparisons which we could measure on say, a graph or a table. Hence we will need Qualitive data, which would be unsuited to a survey or questionnaire.
Therefore an idea for an activity for audience research would be a focus group.
This allows us to gather many ideas simaultaneously from many sources yet retaining their qualitive value; also, when not forced to record on paper, our audience research will be more creative and 'free flowing' as the participants are able to explain their ideas to us in a way we can understand and translate to usable research.

Ideas for questions
  • Did you like the track? why/why not?
  • Which age range would you typically associate with this song?
  • What clothes do you associate with this genre?
  • How would you picture the band/lead singer from an aesthetic point of view?
  • Would you consider a narrative or a performance for this video?
  • If performance, where and what type?
  • If narrative, how many locations?
  • If narrative, what sort of locations?

CH - Concept Development, continued; artist research, continued

The grain of voice of Technodanceaphobic is very urban English; the main singer has a very distinctive sound, unlike many bands I've heard; if I was to relate to any other band it would be The Jam. Other examples of like bands are The Stranglers, The Skids, The Members, The Only Ones or The Undertones; all of these bands are brit-punk artists from the early-indie scene of the 70s and 80s, just predating the release of the C86 tape (believed to be the definitive start of what we know as indie music and culture today). All of these bands have a very distinctive grain of voice, like that of The Enemy, rough and urban with stark, repetitive lyrics (such as The Only Ones' "Sound of the Suburbs" and The Skids' "Into the Valley") and often a violent, angsty performance style. The artists of these bands commonly favoured a very cult British appearance when both performing and in photographs; 70s punk fashions such as suit jackets/blazers with casual clothes, icon t-shirts and other unusual clothing (such as mixing ripped jeans with buttoned shirts and ties). An example of this is the album cover for The Jam, above.
When we come to design and begin to produce our film, I would very much like to encorporate some of these ideas into it; I love the very distinctive aesthetics and actions of these bands, they represent a time and ideals maybe long gone but brought back to life by The Enemy).
By performing in the style of bands from 30 years ago, The Enemy themselves are a postmodern artifact; they are not only bucking the current trend, for example the rise in American RNB or new EDM, but also by homaging bands such as The Skids or The Members.
This is an example of postmodernism because when the bands mentioned were performing, they were part of the punk movement; they were modernist, with passion for purpose such as the failing governments and cold war; The Enemy are postmodern because even though they are not from this time, and do not have these influences, they still perform in a way very similar.
I will conduct further artist and conceptual development research following these developments.

Sunday, 26 September 2010

RC - Location photo reccie - Hastings























Possible location? - to be discussed with the rest of my group.
Our plan is to eventually go on another reccie for this same location but do our filming at night time.

RC - Technical analysis: You me at six, 'Kiss and tell'

I chose to do a technical analysis of this song, as this band is of an alternative rock genre, which is similar to the band we are doing our music video for, also, I feel that this specific song relates well to our chosen song. I am particularly intrigued by how the camera has been used,primarily the camera movements.


Throughout the duration of this video the camera is always moving, so that there is no shot that is completely still.

-The video starts of with a panning MS of a black, electric guitar surrounded by black and white balloons on the floor (0.00);
-the camera then moves onto a MS of an empty glass bowl on a shelf, which is covered by left over food (0.01);
- MS of a megaphone on a sofa, which has an item of clothing and different coloured poker chips on it (0.02);
-MS shot where the camera zooms in slightly to four photographs pinned to a yellow/orange speaker, each photograph is a picture of the band, and each separate one has a word written at the bottom of it, spelling 'you me at six'. The head of a guitar is on show and is leaning against the speaker, and a random lead is dangling down so that it covers the last photograph slightly (0.02-0.03);


-panning MS of a brown/beige, metal drum equipment, with a microphone and its lead placed on one of the drums (0.03-0.04);
-MS of a white manikin wearing a black top hat placed against a white/beige wall, with two bulbs, one yellow and one blue, hanging above the manikin, with a tall lamp standing next to the manikin (0.04);
-MS ped up of drum equipment, from a different angle, this time a guitar is in show (0.05);
-the camera moves to a MS of a dirty, upturned paper plate on a blue and white squared floor, with leftover food surrounding the plate (0.05);
-Ped down of a white/beige ceiling covered with black and white balloons and black paper decorations draping down (0.06) the music playing here is still just the instrumental introduction;
-the camera then pans down to a MLS of a group of people dancing to the lead singer now singing, you can still see the ceiling decorations, as well as two speakers, one either side of the singer (0.06)
-over the shoulder MS of the singer with people dancing in front of him (0.07);
-MS of singer and guitarist, the singer is expressing his words in an angry manner (0.08);
-CU of singer singing into his microphone (0.09);
-MS of the drummer drumming (0.09-0.10);
-CU of the black electric guitar, with the hands of the guitarist in show strumming the strings. The drums are in the background to the right. (0.10)
-MS of guitarist's face with the guitar's amplifier/speaker in the background, to the left of him. The guitarist has mid- length dark brown hair and is wearing a black shirt. He seems to be concentrating on what he is doing (his eyes are closed) (0.11);




-slight low-angle, MS of another guitarist, who is singing the lyrics of the song. Black curtained background, which contrasts with the orange/yellow lighting. It seems that this contrast is a recurring theme throughout this video (0.11-0.12);
-slight high-angle, MS of yet another guitarist, wearing a black and red checked shirt, also singing along to the song. A white wall is shown to the right of him, with his guitar's amplifier/speaker on show too. (0.12);
-MLS of band altoghter performing the song, with the crowd infront of them dancing along (0.12-0.13);
-slow ped up, MS, of the bottom half of a girl wearing hardly anything standing and dancing on a dark green leather sofa, which is placed infront of a wall. On the sofa is a TV, some sort of gold, glitter, decoration. To the right of the sofa are two light bulbs, one green and one red, which are hanging down the wall on a piece of wire. To the left of the sofa is a tall lamp, with other objects cluttered around it (0.14-0.15)





-zooming in and out MS of lead singer, singing in the same spot (0.16) -panning left MLS of the band and the crowd, in the same place as before (0.17);
-panning right MS of the drummer (0.18);
-possible POV, MS of the singer performing and two other band members, with a red headed girl blocking the view slightly (0.19-0.20);
-ped down (MS) of one of the guitarist's performing (0.20).


I only analysed a short section of this video because of its fast cutting rate, which meant that within only the first 20 seconds of this video there were already 20 shots.

Evaluation:
Having carried out a technical analysis I was able to see, shot by shot, how a music video of our chosen track's genre is created to produce an effective series of visuals. From looking at another artist's work I am given the opportunity to benefit from any techniques they use, may they be visual, camera, or editing techniques, or even just the use of mise en scene. Therefore we can translate these techniques into our work, to hopefully improve our overall video.
From this analysis I have idenitified how important meat shots are in composing a video that is of the greatest effect and appeal; it appears that meat shots are used in order to gain audience attention, as the audience is given real insight into the artist(s)/character(s). From looking at the meat shots used in this video I recognised how first person mode of address is also a significant factor, as these types of shots break down the fourth wall, once again allowing the audience to feel a part of the video; again proving that techniques used to involve the audience are key to a video's success.
This video includes a lot of shots due to its fast-cutting rate (one shot only lasts between 1-2 seconds), and our own music video is supposed to be around three minutes long, which has made me aware of just how much footage we need to compile a video that has a feasable amount of shots. It has also enlightened me to the aspect of a video needing a lot of filler shots, as it is crucial that we film more than needed to ensure we have enough.
It has also been made clear to me that we don't always have to follow the conventions of our type of music video; we can break the rules to some degree. Nowadays, in a post modern world, this is becoming more and more of an upcoming thing to do.
One last thing I learnt is the use of lighting and colour in aid of creating mood/atmosphere and how important it is in order for our video to be relevant to our concept. An example of this would be when we do our party scene; our aim is to create an environment which is dark, but also with the effect of strobe lighting, this environment would not be created if the lighting was bright and therefore connoting daytime.

Friday, 24 September 2010

RC - Skills - Brighton Reccie


Why is a reccie an important part of the planning process?
A reccie is a very important factor of the planning process, as it is an invaluable piece of research that helps further our development work, technically and conceptually. It allows us to practice doing a variation of camera shots, angles and
movements, giving us some indication as to which of these we may wish to include in the filming of our video. Doing a reccie also means we have some idea of a location for our shooting, as it either tells us that we want to film where we carried out the reccie, or somewhere else if we do not like the feel of the reccie location.

What was the brief?
We were given a set list of camera shots by our teachers to be carried out whilst in Brighton, our aim was to complete this list within the time limit that we had and then after doing so to come up with a few shots of our own. The whole p
oint of this trip was to be introduced to the new cameras but to also see what this location had to offer us in terms of ideas and creativity.

Where did I go?
Josh and I went to a number of different locations whilst in the Brighton area, however, part our brief was to stay within certain parts of Brighton, so to lessen the risk of any of us getting lost. At first Josh and I found it slightly difficult trying to find the perfect spot for each specific camera shot, so it took us a short while to commence with our filming. Despite this, once we had found one location for one of our shots, it seemed to be easier to find other locations for our other shots. Most of our filming took place o
utside, mainly in different streets/lanes. The first shot that we did was in an alleyway, as we felt that this reflected our idea of one of our female characters walking down a street drunkenly. Other places we filmed include the promenade, a couple of outside benches, and one interior location which was in a restaurant.


What did I do?
Personally, throughout the day I did a lot of the filming, as I feel that I was a lot happier behind the camera and Josh was confident enough to be in front of the camera. Examples of the shots that I did include, high angle and low angle, first person mode of address, close ups, and a few more. There were quite a few shots though that Josh did himself, a couple being the 360 pan and the POV. I'm not sure if this means that when it comes to filming for our video I will be the main camera person, it obviously depends on what the rest of my group think, particularly Casey, who was absent for this trip.

How am I going to use what I learnt in the production of my music video?
I have learnt a vast number of things from doing the Brighton Reccie, which I hope will transfer into our music video. One thing I know is that I am very camera shy and therefore it will be highly unlikely that I will appear in our video, however, I know that both Casey and Josh are happy too.
More important things that I have learnt include:
  • Time management - getting the perfect shot and location takes time, and you have to prepare for the unexpected. A good example of this would be whilst Josh and I were in Brighton and a yoghurt that I had packed as part of my lunch exploded in my bag, this set us back slightly as it meant I had to waste valuable time cleaning up the mess that it had made. Therefore, I have learnt that when filming for our music video I should not take a yoghurt with me, but more importantly, to give ourselves more time allowance.
  • Research and preparation - I have realised now that as a group we should have prepared more for this outing by doing a lot more research. Not only should we prepare for the shots we were told to do but to research other possible shots in relevance to our choice of song and its genre. This means that when it comes to filming our video I shall plan thoroughly what it is we want film, where and when.
When precisely am I going to carry out the reccie for my music video?
Personally, I feel that next weekend will be the perfect time for us to carry out our music video reccie, as it gives us this week to carry on exploring different locations and camera shots. So then hopefully by the end of this week we will have knowledge of where we are filming and would have practiced and researched enough for us to know what shots we are going to shoot.

CH - Rekkie Proposal

I was unable to attend the class Reccie trip to Brighton last Wednesday; I was very upset that I missed this chance to gather some valuable research, but after talking it over with the other members of my group we agreed to continue doing reccies in our own time, so I would benefit from the practice and still contribute to the planning of the video. For my reccie, I am going to visit some various locations based around our current ideas (such as urban locations, like the town centre) and assess how productive they are. However, until I am able to do this I will need to complete a team rekkie.

Rosie and I plan to partake in a rekkie to create a car scene like that which we plan to include in our video.

Why is the reccie an important part of the planning process?

The reccie is an invaluable piece of the planning process; by doing a reccie we gain many things. We gather not only research of an area or location, understanding the advantages and disadvantages that location offers, or what shots and creative ideas we could aspire to create in this environment. We also learn how to work well as a team, efficiently yet creatively, and are given a good idea of what problems we may occur in actual filming. This prior knowledge helps us then to prepare against it, instead focussing on what we can build on and what to avoid.

What was the brief?

The brief was to take a series of shots at a location, exploring the possibilities in creativity it offers. The Brighton reccie had a set time limit, but for our own perosnal reccie's I chose to indite a (more relaxed) time aim, so we can begin to understand the problems that working under pressure can produce. This will also push us to work efficiently. We had a time aim of 2 hours, with this allowing us to work towards a goal but yet to achieve substantial work and a clear, complete rekkie.

Rekkie Aims
To assess the feasibility of a car scene.
To compile a list of useful camera shots specific to a car scene
To assess whether a car scene would fit our concept
To experiment with camera shots/concept ideas/acting plans
To have a wealth of footage to use in the event of an emergency (technical problems meaning we lost portions of our main footage, we could attempt an interchange)

As a conclusion to the rekkie, I will answer these two questions;
"Where did I go, what did I do?"
"How am I going to use what I learnt in the production of my music video?"
among others that we have set ourselves, in order to fully evaluate the success or failure of our rekkie.

When precisely am I going to carry out the reccie for my music video?

This rekkie is planned for Saturday the 2nd of October.

CH - Concept Development

After continuing discussions among our group as to what sort of ideas we would like to incorporate into our video, we have come up with a substantial list. Some of our ideas are outlined below;
  1. The use of a photo montage
  2. The use of interesting transitions (such as the editing technique described below*)
  3. The use of performance shots
  4. The use of lighting and staging within performance shots to enhance the narrative
  5. The use of combined narrative and performance shots to link them
  6. The use of changing locations to keep the video interesting

*in class we have been investigating different editing techniques using the updated software (Premiere 8) on the system. A technique that appealed prominently to our group is the use of layering identical shots to create the illusion of time passing, which is quite different to anything we explored in AS. Another technique is using time-lapse filming, then speeding it up post-production, to create the imagery of time passing. The technique, however, that appealed most to all of us was the use of layering two shots side by side (without moving the camera) which depict slightly different situations to give the appearance of optical illusions, such as layering shots of the same character standing side by side seemingly in the same time.

Overview of our ideas so far

After discussing the ideas outlined above, we came to create the brief description below which is the base of our treatment.

"A music video following the four characters described in the lyrics, being presented/narrated by the artist who is present in both the narrative shots and the performance shots, breaking the fourth wall in all cases yet leaving the narrative unchanged. Whilst doing this we switch between both scenarios with a fast cutting rate; eventually all the characters narrated will have joined the artist in the performance shots, after we follow each one personally for a time specified by the time the lyrics are performed in. Our narrative shots will include many locations, mostly urban to match the grain of voice, maybe following a journey and prominently including social scenes that would appeal to the target audience of the music (youth of teenage) such as social life (eg. parties), home life or school life. The aim of our video is to both narrate the music and to create a concept around it to which extends the themes and imagery created in it already."

Possible challenges we face

After our AS project, we were able to define problems that we encountered that we are likely to encounter again.

The main problem we faced was poor organization.
The addition of Josh to our former partnership of Rosie and I creates both an advantage and a disadvantage; as there is now both someone to share the workload, and to create more by increasing the amount of organization required for three people rather than two. In AS we begun to fall behind, causing us to become stressed and rushed, possibly leaving us with work not as high quality as it could have been.

To combat this possibility I believe we should begin filming as soon as viably possible, to gather as much footage as we need so editing runs smoothly without interuptions of re-filming or filming more.

Another problem we encountered as a result of poor organization was having to film with less characters or different characters than which we originally planned. After not having enough time to organize the participation of our planned actors, we were left with less footage than we planned with less characters than we planned, leaving our film with substantially less iconography, representation and variation of characters.

To combat this possibility in A2 we have agreed to organize actors that we can trust in the very near future, maybe even participating in the acting ourselves. I would enjoy that, and would feel more involved in the video. However it would make directing the video simaultaneously easier and more difficult, as we are able to convey the ideas we have ourselves rather than having to direct others, but we are also limited in the directing we can do whilst acting and not reviewing the filming as it happens.

In my opinion, the additional planning and improved equipment will make our production run a lot smoother than at AS. One of the largest problems we encountered at AS was the sound manipulation, which obviously isn't an issue this year unless we choose to include diagetic sound. This is an option we have yet to discuss. However, Josh spoke to me about maybe including a prologue to the video; a short time of filming before the music starts, possibly used to create tension or suspense or simply to improve the narrative.

RC - Audience Research

Proposal for audience research:

What style? Qualitative

What purpose? To gather a number of responses reflecting peoples opinions on our chosen track and what they envisage our video to be like in relation to our song.

Sample audience? 15-24

Ideas for questions/activities? - 1)qualitative research, focus group; playing our track to a small number of people so that they can write down their own thoughts and ideas. 2)questionnaire; here are a few question we are thinking of asking:
-When you visualise a music video of an indie/rock genre, what do you envisage?
-Do you know of the band, The Enemy?
-If so, what do you think of them? How would you describe their previous music videos as being like? Have your ever heard of their song 'Technodanceaphobic', if so, do you like it?
- After listening to our chosen track, what are your thoughts/ideas?
What sort of location(s)?
What type of clothing for characters and/or band?
What sort of lighting?
What would the mood/atmosphere be like?
Would the video be a performance, narrative based, or both? - if narrative, what do you imagine the storyline would be?
What sort of camera shots do you imagine will be used?

I asked a small, focused group of people to listen to our chosen track and to gather any thoughts or ideas they had about the song, to help further our concept development.

Here is what they came up with:...(Still to be added)

RC - Moving on from AS

Using Blogger last year was a whole new experience for me, as I had never used a program like it before. I feel that throughtout the course I did not use this program to its full potential as I spent most of the time adapting to the mechanics of blogging. However, now that I have had a full year of practice, my blogging techniques this year are hopefully going to improve.

-One aspect that I am keen on advancing is the aesthetic side of blogging, by aiming to make our blog as visually appealing as possible. This can be done in numerous ways:


  • Adding more images, videos...

  • Breaking up text by using bullet points, paragraphs...

  • Breaking up text by using different fonts and font colours...

  • Embedding links to other areas, websites...

  • and many more...

-Another area that needs improving is communication on the blog within my group. Although last year Casey and I did communicate by posting comments on each other's blog, we could have done so a lot more, and in particular, making sure our comments are not just the bare minimum and do infact give in depth responses and ways to improve or help one another's work. It is vital that we use the blog's interactivity to our advantage, to enable continuous development of our work.

-We also need to make the most of Blogger being on the internet, and therefore benefit from the accessibility given to us. In particular, websites likes Youtube or Surveymonkey can be used as links on our blog, giving our blog more branches to go off on.

-We should also take more advantage of the fact that we can access our blog from home, and amend and improve our work there. This will give us a higher chance of developing our work in a more thorough manner, as we are just not restricted to the classroom.

-Also, now that we are working with new HD cameras the footage that we do post on our blog will be of a much higher standard and therefore give our blog a better quality appeal.

-One last point is that we need to make sure that we are always up to date with our work and to not be under the impression that we can always go back and amend things whenever we want. I learnt from last year that we do not have the time to leaves things to the last minute.

Thursday, 23 September 2010

RC - Brighton evaluation



On Wednesday our class went to Brighton with the intention of practicing using the new HD cameras and to get a feel for a new location, other than our local one. Unfortunately one of our group members could not make it due to a leg injury so it ended up being Josh and I who wandered the streets of Brighton in order to complete our set list of shots. This reccie opportunity allowed Josh and I to work in a group for the first time, allowing us to bond creatively and to get a gist of how one another works. It also gave us a chance to communicate any ideas we might have for our music video production and therefore put these particular ideas into action.
Once edited we will post a video of the footage, however, for now here are some photos that we took whilst in Brighton:



Although most of them are not entirely relevant to us, they give a feel for the Brighton location.

Monday, 20 September 2010

CH - How HD Cameras compare to DV

This year we have access to equipment far more advanced to that of last year; significantly, the new set of HD Cameras. These cameras have many improved functions, especially in comparison to the out-dated DV set we were reliant upon for AS. The dramatic improval in picture quality (now it is high definition) will mean we can be far more artistically free with our ideas. We can shoot CUs and ECUs with confidence, knowing we will not be losing quality, as we encountered last year. Another improvement is the new use of slow motion. Whereas the cameras last year took only a few frames per second, the new HD cameras take significantly more frames per second, which means that we can shoot slow motion and expect the same quality as regular film, without the blurring and distortion that plagued our work last year.
Maybe my favorite improvement to the equipment is the fact we no longer rely on Firewire cables to capture our film; the HD cameras have a USB link. Not only is this and incredibly faster way to transfer data, as it is not reading Analogue data from a physical tape, but it is easier and more efficient as we are able to digitally arrange our media both on the camera and on the computer, saving us valuable time. Also, we are able to film without the constant fear of accidentally filming over previous data should we make a mistake in the taping process, as well as the added benefit of being able to delete data off the camera once we no longer need it (therefore saving space on the camera rather than having to carry around many tapes at once).
Overall in conclusion I believe that the use of the new HD Cameras will significantly affect our ALevel in comparison to the AS; we can save time working whilst also enjoying the newfound freedom of true picture quality and ease of use.

RC - Improving my video analysis

After feedback from my teacher and discussion in class I realise now that the video analysis I did of The Kooks' video for the song 'Naive', was definitely not done in enough detail or depth.
So as a class today we all looked at ways we could improve our analysis, making sure we broke it down into these four main sections:
  • Institution and audience
  • Genre and narrative
  • Media language
  • Representation

We were then asked by our teacher to look and analyse a video that one of the groups had looked at already, and in this case it was a song called 'Karen' by a band called Chew Lips:















In my group we were asked to look at the visual techniques being used and question why.
Here are a few points that I came up with:

  • handheld, jerky shots
  • authentic look
  • old fashioned - retro mise en scene
  • quick cuts
  • colour filter - sepia
  • jump cuts
  • dark vs. light
  • meat shots
  • out of focus shots, slightly blurred
  • pull back focus
  • different angled shots
  • close up of faces
  • torch - spotlight

We then had to develop a couple of these points further by scripting them into a descriptive paragraph:

1) Authenticity - This video has a very authentic feel to it, with the use of mise en scene, editing and camera shots, all adding to its authenticity. The house itself seems quite old fashioned and archaic, with a retro styled wall paper plastered on the walls. This theme of past times bodes well with the idea of the lead singer singing retrospectively. The lead singer is also wearing clothing which can be considered as quite passe, as she is wearing an old leather jacket, an item that you would expect people from the 80s to wear. This recurring theme of past times is supported by the close up bird's eye view shot of the singer lying down, which then dissolves into a sepia-washed shot of the young female character. The preffered audience reading here, would be to presume that the female character is the lead singer when she was younger.









The whole class then had to write a paragraph on representation, this is what I came up with:

2) Representation of gender - It seems that gender is being represented quite conventionally in this video, as it appears that the female character is playing the role of a vulnerable girl and the male character is acting protective towards her. This is evident in the scene where they are both sitting in the bath, with the male harboring the female in his embrace. This typical way of presenting male and female characters supports the Goffman, Jhally and Kilbourn theory of function ranking. However, at the beginning of the video this conventional representation is contradicted, as to start with it is hard to make out if the male is infact a male or a female. This is because both characters have long hair, and are very wafer thin. You would normally expect a male who is playing a protective role to be quite well built and to strike you as a very heterosexual male.


I will now use this practice to help me improve my video analyis of The Kook's video to 'Naive'...