Camera Booking

Today I booked the HD camera and reflective board to take out tomorrow (20/12/12) in order to film over the christmas holidays. Then to return the equipment and with my footage on the 7/1/13

Animatic

This is my animatic, I wanted to keep it as simple as I can to hide the disjunction behind it, the strobe effect along with an inverted image over the top to go along with the idea of my digipack having negative images.

Example of opening

The opening sequence to this video by Die Antwoord shows a variety of people looking wild, blank, dangerous and psychotic. I plan to mimic this opening in my own video while the beat is slower and slowly coming in, this will create a enticing opening for the audience to continue watching.

Possible effect to use

http://library.creativecow.net/articles/tierney_jim/caustics.php

Shotlist

Shot 1	An extreme close up of Tom’s face with eyes opening.
Shot 2	Right side close up of Tom’s face
Shot 3	Left side close up of Tom’s face
Shot 4	Vertical shot from underneath Tom’s face
Shot 5	Medium shot, eye level with Tom
Shot 6	Panning shot across location
Shot 7	Out of focus long shot of Tom walking
Shot 8	Ghost shot of Tom from behind
Shot 9	Continual Spinning shot of location and Tom
Shot 10 - 20	Varied length and tilted cut up shots of Tom to fragment his body
Shot 21	(Switch location) extreme low angle of distorted feet
Shot 22	Scenic shot of some shops
Shot 23	Panning of the location, Tom central
Shot 24	Whip panning of sky
Shot 25	(Switch location) representational characters begin to appear in long shot
Shot 26 - 30	Variety of zooms from different angles
Shot 31- 33	Vertiginous spinning shot of the faces
Shot 34	(Delay of time) Close up of tom at night.
Shot 35 - 40	Fast spinning pan shots around the location
Shot 41	Tom walking in a circle with other characters around him
Shot 42	Fast cuts and handheld style shooting of outburst
Shot 43	ECU of Tom looking robotic
Shot 44	Calm shot of scenery
Shot  45 -60	Varied zooms, dolly’s and pans of Tom all over different locations and extreme slow fade to black.

Location

Yesterday I went to various locations that I had in mind to use, just to check access and how realistic and effective they would appear, Out of the 4 places I went to, two of them are perfect, 1 of them i've decided not to use entirely and the other one I would use say for example one of the other's gets flooded.

Editorial Effects Practise

I spent an hour or two practising on Adobe Premier Pro with the visual effects in order to get a more in depth understanding of how capable this software is for my concepts, which must be a disjunctive visual montage of meaning. These 3 examples are too show the prolonging effects of 'Bezier', 'Linear' and 'Hold' on a number of pre-set effects, such as lightning, posterize and lens flare, which has worked very well. I intend to further experiment with Premier Pro and hopefully grasp some of the harder editing capabilities it withholds. 

Focus Group: Feedback

 

Cast & Props

My cast only involves one main person; Tom. He will be the lead role and the focus of my video, other people will feature mainly as props and typical narrative characters,
These people will represent normal problems a working class person faces in life. e.g. illness, debt, abuse & depression.
Another main prop I will use is black and white face paint, I will paint Tom's face a lot like a skull/dead person.

Finished Advert

Quarter of an A4 Page

Finished Digipack

Print work: Organisation

Shot 1:	A long shot of a bird in mid-flight from directly underneath
Shot 2:	Using the same as shot 1 but inverting the colour and flipping the image.
Shot 3:	A long shot of a collection of swans gathering on top of the river.
Shot 4:	Using shot 3 again but also inverting it and flipping the image.

This is my table of the shots I'm using for my digipack, I took them whilst by the fountains at Worcester and realised there were no risks to me other than the potential of rain which could damage my camera, Relatively safe from an unfortunate event I decided to take the photo's which have turned out great.

Draft digipack & magazine advert

These are both rough drafts for my print production, above is a four panel digipack, where I've decided to have minimal conventions on show however there are improvements I will make for my final piece and same applies to the quarter page advert to the right, I will place these images on my Facebook focus group to get feedback on what should be done to improve.

Print Work: The Concept

My digipack and magazine advert will be the release and promotion of the single 'Life in the Machine'. The brand identity i'll be trying to achieve is to make the younger audience aware of what it is and the messages hidden within the photographs.
My inspiration for the idea came when I was sat by the river and a massive flock of birds flew over me and I continued to watch their behaviour of which I personified and Made me think of the common person doing their typical routine which links to the song title. The print work will appear elegant yet highly disjunctive and entropic due to having a aesthetically pleasing photograph of a bird yet completely meaning the opposite. Kind of like taking a photo of a prisoner behind metaphorical bars.

Target Audience

I briefly explained my target audience during the pitch, so it's going into more detail. I'm targeting both male and female aged from 16-26 and around C2/C1 possibly even a B on the Jicnars Scale. They will be utopians, individualistic and even in some cases misanthropists. These are the kind of people who prefer local produce over supermarket bought. These are the type of people who prefer holidays in eastern Europe over Ibiza. These kind of people prefer Ostrich meat over Beef.

 Here are a few pictures of my Target Audience.

Time Management

Specific Genre Research 2

Video Analysis 2 on Prezi

Specific Genre Research

Video Analysis on Prezi

Print Research

A very typical convention of electronic music is that you won't see a picture of the artist themselves unless there is a specific image they want to portray, take 'Angerfist' for example, he wears a personalised hockey mask in order to distance himself from the media, he also wears this mask when performing live. From the audiences perspective they are still able to recognise that it's the artist they know by having the mask printed on the cover. Also I think within this genre specifically is that you'll find many artists don't actually want their image printed or portrayed on their covers as they find it's just a pointless distraction away from their goal which is to please their audience by the creation of electronic/gabber music.

Add caption

  'The Knife' are a brilliant example to use in this genre, relatively well known in their area of expertise and by having such a simple, little effort CD cover goes to show that why waste money on something people hardly look at after all, it's the CD itself that they want. They've made it clear that it's their album by having the name of the band spread across the middle with a trademark knife instead of the 'i'. So far by just looking at two covers it's clear to me that instead of promoting an image, they promote a symbol or something that the audience can recognise the artists by. 

The interesting thing about this album cover is that is doesn't actually have the name of the artist, just the name of the album and two symbols: an inverted cross and tribal symbol for a sun. I find this cover the most interesting as it tells us a lot about the target audience for this genre, the layout is that of a bible and by having the holy cross upside down is seen as a representation of rebellion and disbelief of a major, mass religion. They've re-named their version of the bible with 'Scatology' therefore reinstating that they want the audience to follow what would be seen as a cult through the use of music, which still exists today with the more known recent names like 'HTID' and 'raver baby'.

This tells me that target audience is actually younger than I first thought and is more likely to range from 16-28 both female and male, and more likely to be around the C1's, C2's and possibly D's on the Jicnars scale. By having this newly replenished market allows me to make a more achievable music video for the genre simply by being part of that audience.

Flava:
This advert depicts the drum 'n' bass scene relatively well, bold, in your face text and an industrial effect spread across the page, this is a full page advert as the company 'Flava' having quite a big franchise on the music scene whilst having rights to their own tv channel. The advert shows two artists, placed centrally on the page, with the logo of the Drum 'n' Bass Awards at the top so it is clear to the audience about what the advert is advertising. The over extensive use of the exclamation mark is a clear sign that the audience like heavy, in your face music which is a typically use of the genre conventions.

Future Sickness' version of an album advert is very much different to Flava's, it shows a higher level of intelligence by the design structure and use of editing skills. The background is a zoomed shot of the album cover itself possibly to connote continuity and the emphasize what it is selling. It also has the tracklist underneath a picture of the hard copy itself, this is to show the coalition tracks between major artists within the genre. However this was only a quarter page advert as the music itself ventures from electronic/drum 'n' bass into a more industrial/breakcore scene which isn't as large as the more notable genres. Also the colour scheme seems to have not changed much between Flava's advert and Future Sickness' are both dark and lacking bright colour, both are going for contrasting colours in order to create an edgy, broken effect similar to that of the music itself.

Jaguar Skills album release advert Probably shows us a little bit more about the genre audience by stating at the bottom of the advert that it has a broadcast date and that it is available to download now, instead of showing a date of when it is available to purchase from stores. This tells me that the audience prefer to download albums and music files instead of having the hard copy which isn't a surprise to me being as the genre is highly electronic based. The difference with this advert compared to the others is that it's a bit more vibrant which challenges typical conventions of the genre, it's got more colour and carries a cartoon like aesthetic to it. However it's still in your face, loud fonts and very much obvious as to what genre music it is. Again this advert was also a quarter of a page which I believe to be down to the artist himself having only just made a name for his self within mainstream drum 'n' bass at the time, even though in the top corner of the advert there are BBC logos in support of him. 

Pitch

Initial Ideas & Genre Research

Music Video analysis task

Steve Earle – Copperhead Road (UMG, 1988)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvaEJzoaYZk

The video begins with a fade-in of black and shows footage from the Vietnam war against America, ironically the video was released in 1988 when Vietnam was promised renewal and dramatic reform. We then cut away to a long shot of a car in an old country road, presumably in some southern state of America, this is link of visuals and sound where synaesthesia comes into play, and we hear bagpipes played in a very country fashion which we instinctively think of this ‘redneck’, cowboy and simple lifestyle.

There’s a shot reverse shot between a man and the car which as the drums and guitar kick in, the video cuts away to a shot glass being slammed down onto the table, and then another cut away to a newspaper which states “ Moonshine raid on Copperhead Road” so by now we have an established genre for the song which is country music whilst kick-starting a neo-traditionalist aspect of the genre. Goodwin is a theorist which supports this view by having star image in portrayal with the genre; and its typical conventions.

The video then pays a short succession of individual clips from the location, some of this car going at some speed to where I presume would be the man’s house we keep cutting back to, we also cut to a homemade brewery containing Moonshine, a close up of the driver of the car smiling tells us that he has good news to tell. Emphasized by the fact he’s speeding down this road, we then have a cut back to the man sat outside his house looking quite fed-up and annoyed presumably because of the Moonshine raid.

Within this mesh of clips we have short close ups of the band playing but mainly close ups of the instruments themselves which could connote that they’re all about the music primarily. Which shows views of Steve Archer’s theory where music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band.

For the first time in the video we are introduced to Steve Earle as we have a long close up of him singing, possibly due to the demands of the record label wanting to sell records in a traditional sense by letting, the audience feel closer to the band and the action.

As Steve sings the lyrics ‘Everybody knew you made Moonshine’ we cut away back to the homemade brewery which is an illustrative feature of the video, this could also connote redundancy another feature probably demanded by the record label in order to widen or keep the majority of Steve Earle’s audience interested to what happens in the video.

Cutting back to a Close up of Steve Earle singing again for a lengthy amount of time, the camera doesn’t move or change shot, this could connote Steve’s star persona that he shows emotion through expression and not just lyrics or the way the song is sang, this will engage the audience and in turn build a more personal relationship with the star, and from a business point of view; help sell records.

A whip pan fires across the screen and focus’ back on the car driving, we have established in the narrative that the man driving the car is the man making the Moonshine; this is further reinforced by a shot of him drinking out of a jar and looking relatively happy with himself. This narrative appeals to the audience as they want to live outside the law and act like vigilantes.

As Steve begins singing again we cut back to the band’s performance where we see the drummer and a pan from Steve’s guitar to his face where he is looking directly to the camera which immediately separates the narrative from the song as it becomes a clear selling point as Steve is interacting with the audience, the earthy tone and faded, worn colours is these scenes are to illustrate the portrayal of the audience as being easy-going, chilled out people who enjoy simple things so the fact that Steve is looking direct into the camera shouldn’t bother or impact his audience and is more the control of the record label. Again this links to Goodwin as it becomes a selling point; Steve addressing the audience creates a relationship and makes them want to buy his records.

We start to have more creative cinematography brought into the performance as dollys and zooms are used to liven up the performance itself in sync with the music as it begins to quicken leading to the chorus, cutting back to the car again it is shot in a canted angle on a tilt which connotes that this man is a criminal/vigilante and shows the rebellious nature of his character. Copperhead road was an actual road in Tennessee although it has since been renamed as Copperhead Hollow Rd. due to theft of road signs bearing the song's name which shows the gritty, family like bond of Steve’s audience. The part of the video where it cuts to the car is filmed a lot like it should be in a movie, possibly ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ this intertextual link allows Steve’s star persona to widen his target audience. Both link to Goodwin’s theory.

The use of synaesthesia comes into play where the band are playing and at every point you can hear Steve’s guitar it either pans, cuts or zooms in/out onto the guitar and as we then cut to a close up of Steve’s face he sings “I still remember that rumblin’ sound” the camera shakes in time with the bass.

As the instrumental kicks in and the distinct country sound quickens the editing does as well, pans, zooms, whip pans, tracking and close ups are all used in quick succession, all of the band playing the fast, upbeat music is shown in parallel editing with the car as you can clearly see the car going faster and faster. The audience would respond to this positively, having peaks in songs for this genre of music allows the audience to participate and be able to link the music to real life situations.

Steve then sings “I volunteered for the army on my birthday” we cut to a shot of a birthday cake in a dark room only lit by the candles, the room is fairly empty and contains basic furniture; a sofa and a table with what appears to be tool boxes underneath the table, the slow-motion connotes that this was in the past and the lack of furniture and light is used to emphasise that the audience are people who keep things simple and are content with that lifestyle, the cake is shot in the centre of the frame and shows the extent of celebration within this life and for an entropic audience of country music would make them feel grateful for the sheer amount that western families give to their children on their birthdays, where a birthday cake is usually just ‘expected.

Steve Acrher’s theory works well within this video as the links between lyrics and the narrative, a carefully filmed performance might be part of the artist's persona or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation and the 'repeatability' factor. 

Goodwin's Conventions of a music video

Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop). There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images. (Either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music. (Either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). This is linked to the concept of Synaesthesia - Seeing the sound, the visual, including the editing make the sound visual. There is a physical representation of verse/chorus structure. “This idea is absolutely central to understand music videos as they build on the soundtrack’s visual associations in order to connect with the audience and provide additional pleasure.” Pete Fraser The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style that reflects their star image/persona). There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc.) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. (Mulvey) There are often intertextual references (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc.). (Barthes, Allen, Stewart)

What is a music video?

Pete Fraser states that there are specific conventions that defines a music video; The video lasts at least as long as the track (can be longer if you have an intro or outro or both. The video features the artist/band quite prominently. The video features some element of performance- singing and playing instruments (usually miming) and often dancing or acting too. The video has some kind of concept along with the track. The video does not feature a complete narrative but the concept may involve fragments of narrative. Different genres of music produce slightly different visual conventions in music videos. http://petesmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/music-video-for-level.html

A2 Media Tasks

For the second year in Media we have 3 main tasks to complete for coursework, these tasks consist of; A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with: A digipak for the album's release; A magazine advertisement for the digipak.

Initial Lip Syncing

I learnt a lot in the process of lip syncing, initially when filming i didn't think that there was much of a problem until it came to editing, we learnt that you have to have the song playing in the background when you say the words to get your timing right otherwise it just won't work, also when you do say the lyrics you have to accentuate the words clearly else it just looks like you're mumbling.

Busted Re-make

Pre-production: we had problems in pre-production, where certain people couldn't stay on certain days so the order in which we shot the sequence wasn't efficient. Also people seemed reluctant to bring props or costume in so we had to make the most of what people did bring. It's fair to say our organisation could've been a lot better. I as the director should have made a shot list which would've cut time down instead of wasting time doing shots that could have been done at any other time.

Production: Filming the sequence took longer than needed as Myself being the director, I wasn't happy with numerous shots due to lack of effort or people being too shy. Eventually we got there and the shots were decent, not great but alright. Trying to mimic the cinematography was quite difficult, but practise makes perfect and we then managed to get the majority of the shots as close as possible to the real thing. I also learnt that having only to film 50 seconds it was more time consuming than I initially thought. Also I believe I managed to get people knowing what was required of them in the shot so there wasn't any confusion.

Post-Production: Editing the shots I found relatively easy as I've had previous experience using Adobe Premier Pro, however certain parts were quite difficult, I still find getting the lip syncing very hard to get perfect and would require precision and a lot of time, I enjoyed working on premier pro and taking from the practise I've had I will take this onto my music video next year by making it as precise as possible.

Overall I'm pleased with how well the project went, having learnt from certain mistakes will help next year so I'm glad we had this practise before the coursework begins.