Feedback and Plans - 21/03/13

After presenting our music video to the class we realised how our location are good but maybe too much of the same and not a wide enough variety. We received comments such as 'you see the brick wall and wait for something to happen and nothing does' and this has therefore convinced to shorten our shots and make them more fast paced. We are going to be making the band look more fun and adventurous by filming in a arcade/cinema to get a real fun and friendly ambaince. We have realised how the bands personality is not being represented as much as we truly wanted it to be and therefore by including pub locations as well as bowling it will make it more relatable and interesting and also make the performers (mostly adam) more comfortable in front of the camera and this therefore will make it look more natural.

Conversation On Progress - 14/02/13

Bouncing Ball - 12/02/13

The bouncing ball shooting was most probably the hardest so far. It was hard to be able to bounce the ball and get the shots we actually wanted in the space it took for the ball to go up and come back down. After many attempts and re-consideration we did manage to make the shots the best that they can be and after careful editing made it completely in sync with the music.

Bathroom - 05/02/13

I feel the bathroom shots was our best location for lighting so far. It released a natural element for the band as the mise en scene and lighting combined together and gave a really holy/pure ambiance. It showed the side of the band that only gets seen when the band members are on their own and in this case Billy. Its significant to their characteristics as individually they are the perfect kids that their parents like to see for example when they get up in the morning, but when they are together they go wild and just want to have fun. No shooting problems occurred within this location except lack of space and not being able to follow the specific story board camera angles.

29/01/13

After losing our work I had to re edit the parts of the video we had already filmed. There are gaps within our piece as we have had to film different location due to the weather not being in our favour and therefore could not do it in chronological order. We spent an hour on the editing and now need to prepare ourself to shoot some more locations to link the parts we have edited together.

When editing we realised that it was a good thing that we filmed some  'back up shots' as there were cuts that didn't combine well together and by putting the 'back up shots' in between these shots the cuts worked much more smoothly and generally better. Due to this it has made us realise for the future that when filming in certain locations we should always get more shots than we need to just incase things don't go to plan. 

17/01/13 - Woods

Although the weather was around - 3 degrees there was a bit of sunshine so we decided to get the woods shots whilst it lasted. We managed to get all the filming done including some extra shots in case there were some gaps in the final piece. We felt the shooting went well but there may have been a shaken camera in one of the shots. We will have to see what we can do with it otherwise we will have to re shoot another day. Other than that we are happy with all the final outcomes and getting more excited to edit it all together.

15/01/13 - Bedroom

Today we went to my house and managed to film all of the bedroom shots. We decided to get the bedroom shots done first as it involved filming with an animal and this meant it would have carried much more complications than the other location. Although we thought problems would occur, the shots ran very smoothly and very successfully. I took lead of the Mise en scene whilst acting within this filming and Maddie was in charge of the camera work. Due to me being the main actor I won't be able to do much practical work until it comes to the editing which i enjoy the most.

13/12/12

We have had to rearrange our shooting schedule and pushed it back a week due to the weather not being what we desired for our shots. We have spoke about this problem and whether it will effect us for the future and decided that we will not lose time on our editing as long as we work around the weather and get all inside shots done such as in the house, bathroom or even the night shots on the bridge. Today was a minor set back but me and Maddie now feel a lot more confident with out shooting plans after our discussion and will be on track to finish on time as long as we remain organised and get the outside shots as soon as the weather is looking good.

06/12/12

In todays lesson we were updating our blogs and making sure everything necessary was on there. Whilst doing this me and Maddie began to discuss if there was any problems so far that was occurring. We looked back our feedback and decided if the feedback we had was took on board to make our music video much better. We agreed we were happy with our progress as we have still managed to keep our band unique whilst also including slight references to our idols such as Two Door Cinema Club, Bombay Bicycle Club and Blur.

6/11/12 - 16/11/12

Within this time period me and Maddie continued with our story boarding and completed our animatic. At first we made a mistake within our storyboard as we thought we had finished but had no where near enough shots as we made shots for the lyrics and forgot about the music. We then decided to use this storyboard as a template for our final one and was pleased with the outcome. Our shots are very specific to how we actually want them and our animatic makes complete sense and is very understandable although we wasn't very good drawers. Our storyboard shots do follow Goodwins theory as there is a lot of breaking the fourth wall. We made most visuals and lyrics match which also brings out a sense of humour within the video once again potraying the bands personalitis but it also engages the audience.

25/10/12

In todays lesson me and Maddie decided to look at the lyrics for our song and annotate it with how we want them to match the visuals and what will happen when they are said. We found doing this was extremely helpful as it gave us an idea of exactly what we want in the shot and how we could follow Goodwins theory. This created a basic idea for us and managed to help us begin our storyboarding and expand on what we want to include to reach our pure potential.

18/10/12

In todays lesson we were given an hour to complete our pitch and me and my other group member decided on our record label in whom will be 'Island Records'. We decided on island records as they have signed other artists and bands similar to ours such as Bombay Bicycle Club, Pulp and many more that have an independent style of music and fashion which have been very successful within the industry and were sold mainly on their music not on their look or like ability.

We then went on to presenting our pitch as a 'Prezi' to the class. I found this a great experience as me and Maddie were able to present all our ideas and get an opinion/feedback from an outsider of the group. As we read it out loud it also made me realise some of the difficulties and errors we had within our idea such as not being very specific with the target audience and the main theme. We agreed with our feedback on the good and bad notes and our presentation was recorded, therefore i will be posting the video and feedback sheets soon.

12/10/12

In todays lesson as a group we got all our research and planning up to date. We finished our audience profile and was happy with the final outcome as we created a specific target audience that our band will appeal too. We discussed our progress so far and both agreed that we are going the way we both planned and the view of the video is meeting our expectations.

Lesson 2 - 14/09/12

In todays lesson as it was a short one we decided to just analyse one music video. I found analysing the music video was very informal and helpful as it helped to to carry on developing my analysis skills. It showed me how different music genres hold different codes and conventions within their video as they all appeal to separate audiences. It also showed me an example of how all videos don't completely match up to Goodwin's theory. 

Coldplay - Paradise - Analysis.

• Holds up words on cardboard in sync with lyrics.
• Shows a live performance - Genre characteristics.
• Located in London and symbolises some form of poverty and hows he escapes it.
• Notion of looking as the man in the elephant costume looks directly at the audience.
• Shows the difference between fantasy and reality and how their joint (Paradise).
• Made to look like a short film
• Maybe referencing 'Madagascar'.
• Animalisation.
• Mentions a girl but the visions don't match.

Lesson 1 - 13/09/12

What is the point of a music video? 

• To create a recognisable image that will appeal to a target audience.
• Marketing tool for the Artist/Band. 
• To increase airplay of the song,
• It creates more interest within the album.
• Sells Singles/Albums and the Artist.

Media Theorist:

• Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin was a media theorist in who wrote about music videos and suggested that basically all of them follow certain rules/ codes and conventions.

The Codes and Conventions:

1. The record company's demand for exposure of the artist will mean a lot of close-up shots of the singer/band.
2. There will be a relationship between the music and the video
3. There will be a relationship between the lyrics and vision. 
4. Genre characteristics will be shown for example rock music videos show live perormances, hip hop videos show images of wealth and a 'gangster' lifestyle and boy bands will feature dance routines.
5. There will be references to the notion of looking, for example - TV screens, mirrors and people looking at the audience. (Voyeurism)
6. The video will include some form of a inter-textual reference.

Ways to analyse a music video: 

• Performance
• Narrative and other visual elements
• Genre characteristics
• Cinematography
• Mise en scene
• Editing
• Notion of looking
• Intertextual referencing 

A lot of the above will overlap, it will be easier to analyse the video chronologically.

Jay Z- 99 Problems - Analysis

• Scopophillia is not used that frequently therefore the visuals are portraying a relationship to the song. 
• Shows a typical 'thug life' through the use of narrative and genre characteristics - Hip Hop.
• Close ups of street signs to create awareness of the location.
• Relationship between visuals and lyrics ''I got 99 problems but a bitch aint one'' zooms into a woman.
• Jay Z always features a notion of looking as he looks directly at the audience.
• Relationship between lyrics and visuals 'Talks to the lord'' Zooms into Jesus.
• Hip Hop genre shows typical characteristics; graffiti, police, criminality, style, chains around neck, baseball caps, big jacket, baggy jeans, derogatory treatment towards women 'Bitch' -focusing on a dog and then cuts to a woman, women in bikinis, illegal dog fighting, prison fences, set in Brooklyn, run down, basketball courts, balaclavas, gun shoots, murder, street dancing. 
• The black and white effect represents a ghetto style and maybe contradicting old American films that make everything seem perfect - The American Dream. It also creates a more dull and run-down effect.