Filming, Album cover and Advert updates

Peer Assesment (planning)

Below is the feedback I received from one of my fellow students in which they went through my 'Planning' posts and marked them against the criteria which can be seen below. Fortunately, I was awarded 17/20 which is equivalent to an A which is my target grade. From the feedback I got, I will go through my posts and change and improve anything that has been mentioned below in order to resubmit on the date shown below.

Talent release forms

Below are all the Talent Release forms of which were signed by the actors and participants that will take part within our music video. We had to get their consent so then we have permission to feature them within the video.

Here is the original talent release form that was distributed to each individual:



Here are the signed forms:

Location permission

Photoshoot plan

Below is a photoshoot plan of which my group and I have created in order to set dates and organise our time wisely so that when it comes to the actually shooting the photoshoot we know exactly what needs to be shot and what equipment, costumes, props and artists we need as well as what location it will be shot in. 

 

Advert design

The design:

 

How to create this advert:

To create an interesting and effective advertisement for the single we thought we would use photoshop to create it. This will involve using multiple layers, each of the layers as follows:

• Background layer ( Fence)
• Layer 1 ( Main actor- Scott Wells)
• Layer 2 ( Interrogation character)
• Layer 3 ( Work character)
• Layer 4 ( Dancer 1)
• Layer 5 (Dancer 2)
• Layer 6 ( Punch bag and fist ( Opacity to be lowered))
• Layer 7 (black background to the writing)
• Layer 8 ( Text layer "NOT GIVING IN SINGLE OUT JULY 2013")

Explanation:

When planning the advert we really wanted to incorporate as many conventions of a Disco Pop advert so it will be easily identified as being part of that genre. We chose to have mid shot of all the people of whome would feature in it as this is commonly seen within the adverts and it effectively draws the audience in and it also establishes the importance of the artist of the album/single and allows the audience to identify the artist by what they look like.The artist will wear what is seen in the video so he is easily identified and noticed by the viewers. In addition to this the colours that we use are of high importance as it will help to create the mood of the piece but it will need to represent the genre as well. We have chose to use vibrant and vivid purples as it incorporates the upbeat tempo and energetic atmosphere that is felt from watching the video and listening to the single. The title of the song will be bold and will stand out from the image with the release date underneathe as this is typically seen when viewing other Disco pop adverts. The logo's of the production company and the lable will be used to promote both of them to the audience as well as any other companies that were involved with producing and publicising the advert. The name of the artist will be positioned so it is larger than the song title as the audience will see this first and will automatically be drawn in just by seeing the artist's name which will be in different font to the rest of the advert to add importance and put emphasis on them.

CD cover design

The design:

Explanation:

When thinking of how we could make the CD cover not only a successful one but an effective one we had many different ideas within the group which we have combined into the image above. The front cover will be of the artist's face as this is a very popular convention within our genre of Disco Pop and then we chose to specifically have a brick wall as the background to enforce the urban feel of the song and also the style of the artist. By having the brick wall it also represents the frustration that is built up and constructed within the music video and song which isn't initially seen on the front of the CD cover. The album song title is bold and will stand out against the background as this is another convention seen within the genre; the font will be a sketchy type font as it will convey the frustration and determination which is part of our overall concept. On the back of the CD cover will feature three individual photo's of the artist that will be made into one overall photo. The center one will be the artist spinning around and the other two will be still representing the freedom of the artist as well as the lyrics of the song. The location of this picture will also be featured within the music video, cleverly linking the two and enforcing the sense of tranquillity and freedom.

The spine will be yellow with the text 'Not Giving In' and the artists name to represent a crime tape with is associated with police, violence and crime; this will link to parts of the music video such as the interrogation room. We thought of using the idea of a clock where the CD would be placed as it is a circular shape and will draw the audiences eye to it, instead on having just a plain background. We also wanted to use the clock within reference to the video (seen in the interrogation room) and to represent the waiting and passing of time that it takes to not give in to a situation.

Another idea for the front cover:

 

Despite this design going against the conventions of a typical disco pop CD cover we thought it would be visually interesting to the audience but the idea behind it is to convey the idea of how much emotion is seen throughout the video and also our overall concept is centred around the emotions of different people we chose to use this specific image as it is said that "the eye is the window to the soul" connotating that by looking into someones eye you can see how they are truly feeling. In addition to this we thought that by turning up the contrast of the image it would make the iris stand out which would make it brighter; linking in with the convention of bright colours. As well as this we said we could replace the iris with an image of a field which is seen within the video or combing two locations together to create a juxtaposition between the two, therefore juxtaposing the emotions felt.

Track Permission Letter

Below is an email sent from one of my fellow group members requesting permission to use the song within our music video. It is important that we seek out this permission so then we don't breach the terms of copyright or any other legal issues that belong to the song. We have mentioned in the email that the song is just for the purpose for our music video which is part of our coursework and will not be released as anything else.

List of Props, Costumes, Make-Up and Equipment

Shooting Schedule

Below is a shooting schedule which is valuable information to us as it tells of when we will be shooting and what things will be needed when the filming is taking place. By doing this it aloud us as a group to break down each element such as costumes, props and equipment which allows us to be organised and plan our time wisely. 

 

Locations

Below are the multiple locations of which we will use within our music video:

Primrose Hill:

 The first location of which we want to use is Primrose Hill which is located in London on the North side of Regents Park. We particularly chose this location as we wanted to have the city skyline of London in the background to set the location of the piece. We also wanted to have the city in the background to juxtapose the wide open nature we see in the shots. It would contrast the busy, chaotic streets of London to the tranquil, calm setting of the park that we see. This would be where the performance shots of the artist will take place and the setting itself will allow the audience to differentiate the artist to the actors of who are seen throughout the piece.

Drama Room:
Our second location we want to feature in our music video would be a drama room at Glenthorne High School due to it being easily accessable and allows us to shoot certain shots that we wish to see in the piece. By using a drama room it will allows us to use the lighting which is set up in there to have the room in darkness and have one spotlight on to create a dramatic effect, highlighting the actors and dancers when performing but to also highten the atmosphere of isolation, frustration and intensity which will link clearly to the concept of the video. The situations that will be shot in this location will be the interrogation scene and the dance sequences.

Gym:
The third location would be a friends home gym where we could access the punching bag that they have in order to shoot the shots where we see a male working out. We wanted to place the person on their own in an isolated enviroment to allow the audience to be clearly focused on the actor's performance so that the emotions and feelings of violence and anger are felt by the audience.

Office:
Our final location that we wanted to use is an office where the actor could also stand by the window to have him pacing up and down and staring out of it. The reason we wanted to have someone in an office enviroment was to show the stress and anxiety that somone of the working class may feel. We wanted the audience to sympathise with this character and by using this sort of location they can maybe relate to the stress that certain people may be going through in today's society. On the left is a gif showing the views from the window from the office.








Additional locations:

During filming our idea's have changed. For instance certain scenarios have been taken out (the office and gym) and we have added in the location of a dance studio which will show the artist rehearsing a dance. This location has allowed us to shoot interesting shots such as seeing the artist performing in front of and in the mirror which will really interest the audience and viewers I feel.

Storyboard

Story boarding:

In our groups we started work on creating our storyboards for which we will use to give us guidelines to what we will film when it comes to making our music video. We discussed what type of shots would be used in order to create an interesting visual effect but also what shots are conventional to our chosen genre of 'Disco Pop.' We decided that close ups would be most popular in our video as this is what is most conventional and it reveals the facial expressions of the artist and actors seen in the video. It is key that the emotions are clearly shown to the audience as our concept is mostly based around the emotions and feelings of the people seen within the video. As well as this we wanted to have a diverse range of camera shots in our video such as birds eye and long shots which would be accompanied by a variety of camera movements such as crabs, tracks and tilts. By creating the storyboard it allowed us to piece the video together more easily as we had it right in front of us so then we could swap certain shots around and experiment with the order of the video. On the left are two images which shows me working and also the group as a whole working to create our storyboards.

Here are simple scans of our storyboards:

 

After completing our storyboard we took photo's of each shot and uploaded them onto final cut. From here we made an animatic to work out the timing and placement of the shots within the music video:

Concept

Teacher Assessment (research and planning)

After making the changes that my peer had set me after marking my blog I made all of the necessary changes and then my teachers marked it again to see where further improvements could be made and what area's were going well. I will take on all feedback and make the changes accordingly in order to achieve the best possible grade. Below is the feedback I was given:

Image Annotation

Thinking about what we want the costume and image of the artist to look like we considered what exactly is conventional to our genre of Disco Pop but also what the song makes us picture whilst listening to it. My initial thought when listening to the song was an indie/ hipster kind of look with an edge to it, to almost go with the song itself. I thought the artist would look like this as from when watch previous Rudimental music videos you can see this sort of style shining through. Below you can see gifs which show a variety of different outfits which show everything the artist would consist of from accessories to footwear. The image that is conventionally seen within dance pop videos are of that which possess it's own style so that the audience can identify the artist as the image of a singer is key when a stylist comes to dressing them as they have to have that sense of style of which the artist's fan will recognise and are familiar with. The colours were also taken into consideration when thinking about the clothing and image as they had to not only show personal style but also had to fit in with the song, video and also represents the mood and atmosphere.

 

Lyric Annotation

Song details

 
After spending a long time choosing our song we finally came to the conclusion of using 'Not Giving In' by Rudimental. We chose this song as we feel it really fits in with our chosen genre of 'Dance Pop' as it has an almost rave element to it which is what we were looking for. In addition to this the song meets the criteria of being a British artist and the song can't have a music video to it already so then the video is entirely our own interpretation. Below is a clip of our initial thoughts when listening through the song. We thought of things such as having fast paced editing which would match the beat of the song successfully creating an energetic mood for the audience to enjoy which would contrast the start of the song where longer shots will be used as the song itself is more slow at the start. We thought of using a range of close ups and extreme long shots with the accompaniment of crabs to circle the artist. As well as this we thought of a few narratives that could be played within the video such as a domestic abuse relationship where the two characters aren't giving in to one another, a person is in an interrogation room and a stressed person feel pressure and not giving into it. Of course these are just a combination of ideas at this moment in time so we will experiment and see what works well together so we can create an overall effective music video which follows all the conventions of our chosen genre of 'Disco Pop'. Below is a video manoeuvring around our mind map of initial ideas:

 

Technical Tutorials

Green Screen Tutorial:
Below is a music video we filmed to the song 'Bet You Look Good' by Arctic Monkeys as a whole class. To record this specific video all of it was done by using green screen technology which is a way of creating visual effects such as the background to add a certain effect to the video. Once we filmed all the footage we got into our groups and then edited it all together using final cut to create one final piece.

Here is our groups video:


Below is an image of how the classroom was set up when shooting:

Reflection on using green screen:
When using green screen I learned a lot due to this being the first time actually using this piece of equipment. I learnt how to set up the green screen itself as well as all the lighting. The lighting needs to be positioned so it gives the best coverage over the green screen and the band. I learnt how there needs to be hardly any creases or shadows on the green screen itself as when the effect is placed on to it when being edited it wont appear as effective, which in turn makes the video appear less professional. As well as this you can use multiple cameras which are positioned in different places to record at the same time so all the footage can be taped in less time but as we used a figrig we realised that in certain parts of footage you can see parts of the person using the figrif come into frame, not allowing you to use it.

Evaluation of video:
When first watching the video you can clearly see that the syncing of the music needs to be much better syned to the person who is lipsyncing as it makes the video look really unprofessional and just not a very good music video overall. Adding to this, it would have looked better if the chosen background image filled the whole frame so then it would take up the whole space and would have black lines down the side of the shot. Overall, I feel more time needed to be spent on this in order to make sure everything was perfect and in sync, however, taking into consideration that this was the first time for my group using the green screen and learning how to actually place a background image into the piece, I think it works and looks really good, the only really negative thing is that the music and lip syncing doesn't match up. But from doing this task it goes to show how key attention to detail is and that it is all about practicing, learing and developing our skills.

Photoshop:
Below is a short screencast that shows how we learnt to add a blur effect and also play with the hue/saturation of an specific image.

From doing this task firstly it was my first time ever using the software of Photoshop so it was very important that I picked up on things that I needed to know and what will be usefull in the future when it comes to making our digipacks. The main thing I learnt is that when setting up your page it has to be on custom preset and the width has to be 297 and the height has to be 210. The resolution has to be 300 pixels per inch and no different so the image is at its best. I found out how layers are important when wanting to add different effects and to see different things to create an overall image which is what the next task of this tutorial was (see below). I learnt that you can duplicate the layer by clicking on layer at the top of the screen and then duplicate. To add a certain effect to the image you click on filters and then select a specific one, once chosen you can alter the strength of the filter in order to manipulate and change your image. Here is my final image I created:



After learning how to insert layers and play around with multiple tools on the software we then had a go in our groups at making our very own cd cover. We went out and took photo's of me against a plain background as it would then be easier to replace it with a different image if we wanted to. We used close ups specifically as when researching album covers that go with our genre we found that on pretty much all of them close ups of the artist(s) are used in order to really show them off to the audience and allowing them to see facial expressions. We chose to use a really visual background to the cover instead of a plain background so it immediately made it look more interesting. We played around with the rotation of the image on what would be the front and back to then go with the title we gave it of 'Making Waves' due to it resembling this. We used a striking font for the title so it really stood out against the background image and the close up of the artist which is another main convention of a Disco Pop album cover. The colours used were purposefully chosen in order to fit in with the background and to create an overall effective image so it would in turn engage the audience. We wanted to represent the theme of the album so by the simple use of venturing onto google images to find a background image this set us off to create a mellow and almost natural mood. The use of the two faces on the back of the cover is to obviously show off the artist more but it allowed us to put the tracklist on in an interesting way as its not just a plain background with the songs titles, it has effective images on there which almost create the illusion that the artist is staring at them. Instead of just using random song titles we were professional and tried to think of songs in which could relate to the title in some way and fit in with the overall mood of the album. If we had more time we would have added in a spine to the cover, a barcode to the back and placed on a record label to create an illusion of a real album cover.

Roles

Roles:

Director: All share
Filming: All share
Editing: All share
Storyboard: All plan and annotate
fill out the storyboard so that when it comes to filming there is a clear indication of what needs to be filmed such as shot types, camera movements and any additional information and also when editing we know what order the shots go in.
Location: Rachele
Finding a suitable location that fits the genre of Dance Pop. Getting permission from whoever owns the location. 
Costume: Scott
finding and providing suitable costumes for the actors and genre of music. 
Make-up: Fiona
gathering the right make-up; colours that will fit in with the video itself as well as representing the artist.
Props: Rachele
finding props for the music video. Getting permission to use props or buying them. 
Lighting: Fiona
bringing appropriate lighting to fit the mood of the song. 
Music: Scott
bringing along music and a music player to the location and also providing the digital copy for the music video edit. 
Actors: Rachele and Scott
will perform in the video if need to.
Special effects: Rachele
any additional visual effects which might need to be added during the editing stage.

Initial Ideas

Below is a mind map of all the initial ideas we, as a group came up with when first getting together. We came up with doing the genre of 'Disco Pop' as we all wanted to do a genre of which we already knew things about so that we could include our own knowledge of what normally associates with this particular genre. We all said what we most commonly listen to which is how we resulted in choosing 'Disco Pop' as our genre. When thinking about what artist's were associated with 'Disco Pop' we went on to YouTube to browse through artist's of whom we thought came under this genre, we watched an array of videos and then we researched them on the Internet to see exactly what genre they were. We then analysed a range of music video's and album covers which would help when making our own digipack and music video when we finally choose our song as we gathered valuable conventions of each so we knew exactly what needed to be included to make it easily identified as something from the 'Disco Pop' genre.

Peer assessment (research and planning)

Below you can see a feedback sheet which another member of my classed filled out when reviewing my blog. You can see what I did well and what needs to be changed and worked on, which I will do immediately. At the bottom of the page you can see over what went well's (www) and even better if's (ebi).

Audience research analysis

After letting people fill out our questionnaire I then broke down each question and analysed them in deatail so it was easier to refer to when completing our planning for our music video and digipack.

Taking all of this research into consideration our main target audience will be mainly females but will apply to males as well between the ages of 13-18 (making them students) with some ages being out of this range as our type of genre typically applies to a diverse range of people. However, we have chosen this particular age range as this is the field where the genre is most popular. We will creatively target this audience by the use of colours, high key lighting, editing and performance to keep them constantly engaged and not bored. We will have to create a high standard music video which will consist of unconventional locations, high key lighting, wont have a narrative and other aspects which we have found out from carrying out this survey. 

Audience research

Below is a questionnaire which my group and I created to gather valuble information and research into the genre of 'Disco Pop':


The purpose of this questionnaire was to ask a variety of people for their opinions and interests on the genre of 'Disco Pop'by asking questions such as 'What do you expect to see in a Disco Pop music video?" After completing the questionnaire we sent out the survey to multiple people, the vast majority of them were people in our year so we expected the age's to be between 17-19, with a few being older as we sent them to some teachers as we wanted to get a different view from different ages. This will help us greatly when it comes to planning our music video and digipack as we can refer back to the answers to help us to create a successful product in which our target audience will enjoy and take interest in.

Advertisement research

Record Label research

CD cover research

After analysing these three CD covers and looking at an array of others I have come to realise and establish the similarities and conventions of Pop artists (Disco Pop in particular):

Conventions of a Pop music video

 

 

Further analysis of Pop videos

Moodboard on chosen genre

Here is a moodboard I created on my groups chosen genre of 'Dance Pop'. From a glance at the moodboard you can clearly identify that the genre itself is an energetic and happy one due to the vibrant and vivid colours seen, also within it you can identify popular artists that are assosciated with the genre such as Jessie J, Ke$ha and Britney Spears. When collecting images for this I noticed that the costumes that are used really incorporate the artist's own style as well as fitting in with the mood and atmosphere that is created within the video; this is so that the public and their fans can easily recognise them. The use of lighting is key in building up the energetic atmosphere that we commonly see within dance pop videos, such as bright white spotlights to highlight the artist and to also create a flashing, strobe effect to go with the pace and the editing so that the overall video looks really effective and engages the audience successfully. Other colours can be used such as vibrant pinks and purples as they don't only go together but they can be linked to the colour of the costumes in some way or another, once again, in order to really build up the club, energetic type atmosphere/ mood. The main camera shot that is seen in disco pop music videos are close ups to really show off the artist to the audience so that they are continuously focused on them, their performance and their facial expressions which make the audience feel just like the artist themselves are, in turn helps to keep them engaged through out the whole piece due to the editing not staying on one shot for too long. 

Andrew Goodwin (Dancing in the Distraction Factory, 1992)

Andrew Goodwin on Prezi

Carol Vernallis "The Kindest cut: Functions and meaning in music video editing"

Carol Vernallis analysed how editing in music videos and Hollywood films differenciate and was able to identify distinct approaches to each of them. The table below shows a summary of what the theory covers:

Here is a quote of which Vernallis said:

"In video our attention to the song shapes the way we percieve the image, but to an equal extent what we attend to in the image helps to determine how we hear the music."

In this quote, Vernallis is saying how by hearing the music we can almost build up an imaginary image of how we would percieve the meaning of the image and same as the video helps to build up the communication of the song.

When trying to find examples to go with the text found in the table I found one which could potentially cover the majority of them. This video is 'End Of Time' by Beyonce. When watching this video look out for how there is no clear path or narrative to this music video as the video itself is a collection of her concerts put together to create one big performance. There is no sense of continuity as the costumes of our main singer (seen as the dominant focus in the video) continuously changes costume and location by the use of cutting from one to another. The time, space, character and narrative are revealed but not in the sense where it makes us completely focus on them as the editing is continuously taking us from one place to another, one costume to another, one time to another.



In addition to this when thinking about 'Visual hooks' a very clear representation of this is the music video that I earlier analysed 'Domino' by Jessie J. The use of the background constantly changing draws the audience in a large amount as it's animated and you're eyes are drawn straight to it. In addition to this, the editing and cinematography used helps with creating pace and interesting shots which in turn helps keeping you hooked throughout the whole of the music video.



Another thing that Vernallis said was that shots of singers will encourage the audience to piece together what we think the artist looks like, a 'Phantasmagorical Body' (a body of which is made up in our mind of all the shots of bits of bodies we see). An excellent example of where we see this happening is at the start of 'Unfaithful' by Rihanna.

The pictures in action: