Sunday 30 October 2011

Plan For When Back After Half Term

This week, the objectives are to:

  • Get Test Footage up onto blog *
  • Get Rough Cut onto the blog after watching other groups pieces
  • Plan shooting on an afternoon/ evening and think carefully about shot types and ensure that we will be incorporating a lot of close up shots, some random and cheesy footage and also moving shots so that the entire video is not static and therefore makes it more interesting for the viewers and our target audience 
  • Book for the camera on Thursday?!
  • Shoot some additional footage for the real music video itself partially according to the feedback from other groups 
  • Edit together the captured footage into the timeline and finish off our music video
  • Begin to start on the digi pack and other elements for our project 

Thursday 20 October 2011

Ideas After Looking Back From Our Rough Cut

Ideas-

Close up of hands
Close up of the pair together
throw the leafs up
throw leafs in eds face
make some of it darker
arguments
new first part
crying
running up together and then spinning round, whilst the camera is spinning the other way. Then pulls them back from each other.

Rough Cut Footage

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Target Audience Research: Expectations and Viewing Habits

The target audience for a music video will depend on the expectations of the audience. Everyone will have a different feeling towards a different type  of music therefore no one will feel the same, this being an extremely important of music in general as there is such a diverse range of music all appealing to different people in different ways. The expectation when seeing a music video is that it relates to the music of the group and that it gives connotations that appear appropriate so that the target audience ensuring that they are enticed enjoy the video in a great way.

The typical expectations when listening the our music video would be, slow, romantic, boy and girl, cheesy and quiet emotional.

If you had a rock and roll song you would expect a lot of band shots and a group to be performing as this is a strong element to that genre and the attachments that go with it.

These would all be examples of the target audience.

Viewing habits would be habits the audience get into. They're quite like expectations, however these are more to do with seeing the same thing over and over again due to the elements within the video that cause the viewers to become obsessed in a positive way.

Research into filters and special effects

As a group we had ideas of what kind of special effects and filters we would like to include.

Slow motion was an idea we deicde on mainly because we wanted the past to be quiet slow and give more of an impact towars the audience watching. It also gave it more of a romance feel to it. Here shows how to do it on Final cut:



We also planned on using fading in and out. We came up with this as some of the parts weren't as smooth as planned and we wanted something to smooth it out for us. So we watched a video which showed us how to do it:



There was a clip which had a light in, we wanted the light to go out and put the footage at the end. So we decided to look into how we can do this. We typed into youtube and watched a video to see how long it would take to do this and how hard it would be. Due to us trying to attempt to and not being able to. We decided to change our minds.



Lastly we decided to look into black and white to represent the past. So we looked into a video to show us how to do this:

Thursday 20/10/11

The main plan for this lesson is to :
  • Upload the test footage to the blog and add any additional notes that we want to
  • Upload the Rough cut footage to the blog and QuickTime it 
  • Check the blog is full and complete
  • Add any pictures also to the blog that can be used as part of the planning stage

After Wednesday lesson 19/10/11

During the lesson we all had a chance to do some editing to share out some of the work. Charlotte checked along with Chris to see what we had to do and what our objectives were to do during the lesson and what still needed to be added to the blog. Charlotte and Chris also cut down some of the footage for the end part to the song which seemed to fit in really well.

Chris  did some editing and also uploaded some work to the blog. Both Charlotte and Chris made sure that we had got to the point at the end where we felt that we were happy with the product.

As a group we feel that we are in a position where we will be able to show the class the work we have produced, it is not a perfect music video yet but we feel happy that it can be shown and critiqued by our class mates.

Abbie also had ago at editing along with Ed, both of them also spent some time on the blog adding how they felt and how they feel the project has been going.

However Charlotte and Chris still feel that we may need to add some more locations and possibly use some of the time in the green/black screen room to add to the current footage that we have. More general locations are needed we feel to be able to add a bit more of variety into the footage and make it a bit more exiting for the intented viewers.

Filming Emotions

Charlotte-
Due to being absent on the evenings we had to film. I did alot of planning towards what needed to be filmed and when. So hopefully that made up for the absences. However i did do loads of test filming with the group and spent time putting input into what we needed to have done. For example making sure the background was clear when filming, Making sure that the background had nothing we didnt want in there. I have also spent some time editing for the group and being part of the decision to slowing down the footage and making sure that we have clear cuts between sequences.

I found that when doing the test footage, what you thought you had on the camera was sometimes not what was on the screen when you uploaded it. I also found you had to do about 15 filming shots before you had one good one which was ok to be able to use. Through planning a lot ahead and having a picture of what you want it helps a lot and you are able to concentrate on the small details.

Chris-

I have found the process of planning and production so far more challenging than I had originally envisaged it to be. However, the main thing has been for me to ensure that I have worked through any tough patches and kept my motivation to make a good quality and high standard of music video. When out doing the filming, there are many obstacles that need to be considered and when doing filming in the evening obviously one of the main problems was that the light drew in quite quickly meaning that we could only film for a certain length of time or else we would lose continuity if the light changed all throughout the video without us wanting it to. Additionally, when out doing the filming I found it occasionally difficult trying to use some different techniques, for instance, trying vertigo, slow zoom out to look effective and also doing moving shots as I had to take into consideration other people being around, the surface that I was on and also the conditions. After doing the main section of filming and then beginning the editing process, we realised that in some respects some additional footage would have been helpful however, we made use of all of the footage that we had, ensured to try and use some effects to create a more interesting music video from the viewers perspective and make the product fit well together with some good transitions and fades. Although the editing can take a while before it is to a stage where you are happy with it, one of the best things that I did was just to perceiver and have the objective that we really want to make a good quality and professional looking music video.

Acting Emotions

when it came to filming there where some challenges i had to over come as an actress. These difficulties where things such as learning the lyrics to the song, to overcome this we played the song out loud on chris's phone so i could sing along to it, which worked well as i could show the emotion from the song easier. The other advantage was that i couldn't hear my own voice so i didn't end up laughing and wasting the little filming time that we had. I also had to make sure Ed wasn't visable as he made me laugh every time he looked at me. This problem kept on occurring with the strange looks we got from onlookers especially the yellow back pack Spanish tourists. i also had to remember to do my hair the same each time we filmed and bring the same clothes, this wasn't so hard to remember and didn't really become an issue. it made it a lot easier to act as my group where extreamly professional about it and did not muck around. Over all i thought the whole thing was a success, however if we where given more time i would have liked to have shot some more of the flash back moments and get a closer shot of ducks.

Attempt to contact artist

We attempted to contact The Hush Sound to show them the video we have composed to their song You are the Moon. We found their email address at THEHUSHSOUNDBAND@GMAIL.COM this was the email address they quoted on their myspace account. We are still waiting on their reply with comments on how they think it fits in with their type of music and the feelings they wanted to portray to the listener.

Classification Research

When we began the music video project we had to think about the classification and the themes within music videos and how they might affect the viewer.

When looking at some music videos early on we viewed a shocking video, Rock DJ by Robbie Williams and found out that rightly it was only to be shown well after the water shed due to the components and actions that take place within the video.

This is the video:



This video could be seen as very disturbing to some audiences and so would be distributed with a classification that mirrors this. When creating a music video this has to be considered and during our production process so far we have thought about what may and may not be suitable to include within our video.

A typical element which can cause a change in classification is language, however as that is not present within our video this is not necessary and our digi pack will highlight that our music video is suitable for all.

Analysis Of 2 Students Music Videos



This Music Video, 13 P1-01 - Butch Walker  - Too famous to get fully dressed was done in 2010 by a group of students in a band style situation and they had to appeal to the specific genre, which was indie rock and rock/ rock pop.

In relation to the Goodwin's theory of analysis this video has appealed to the conventions  and incorporating...

The second video is:



This Video is 13T1 35 Music Video 2010 Final Full

This video is another group performance with the focus being on the artists and their instruments and voice.

In relation to the Goodwins points of analysis and appealing to the conventions of the genre and the style of music, this video has done...

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Plan for Wednesday 19th October Lesson

For this morning we need to continue with editing of the footage and ensuring that everything is beginning to come together in a continuous way with good continuity lasting throughout. We need to consider that we only have this lesson and tomorrow before the rough cut deadline so really need the editing with effects and transitions to be as smooth as possible and ready with the possibility for some minor tweaking on Thursday's lesson.

Additionally we need to upload some test footage to the blog. This will include the footage of Ed on piano, some of Chris and also some of both of Ed and Abbie.

While this is going on, we obviously need to continue adding to the blog and be starting to think about the other elements of our music video project, such as the Digi Pack and the DVD.

Monday 17 October 2011

Monday 17/10/11

This lesson we have done some editing.  Charlotte, Chris and Abbie have added in some of the techniques for example Timing, Colour scale and fading in and out. We have done nearly half of the editing process and still have some additional footage that needs to be added to our timeline.

We still need to make sure the transitions our smooth and not jumping from footage to footage.

Looking through the footage we have decided that we still need to get footage of people walking past. We will need Abbie to film in the green screen room. Then we will slow the people down whilst they are walking past.




We are now in the process of only having 3 hours left of editing before the rough cut deadline. We hope that by next lesson we will be at stage where we only have a small amount to do in order to keep thursdays lesson free for last minute touch ups.

Editing Process

While editing the different techniques we used were:
  • Fading in and out
  • Colour Corrector (Grey Scale)
  • Timing (Slow Motion) 



  • Colour Correcter
    We have used the colour correcter to show the difference between the past and the present. While Ed and Abbie are together we have used the colour correcter.When its just Abbie we have left it in colour.

    Timing
    We have used slow motion in ours and lowered it down to 60 when using the colour corrector. It highlights the significance of the different clips.  

    Fading in and Out
    We have used fading in and out to make the pictures run smoothly.

Friday 14 October 2011

The Things That We Have Not Decided to Include and/or Change

From previous planning during the earlier stages in the music video project after pitching and deciding on our ideas for our music video we had preliminarily discussed using dancers and incorporating a dance routine to show and evoke the emotion of the main protagonist (Abbie) and to show explicitly how the main singer feels. After starting to film and get some real footage to put into our music video timeline on Final Cut Express, we have not actually filmed anything in the way of dancers due to time pressures and also that we felt after viewing some of the initial footage that it may not fit into our video as we felt that the main focus should be on the main character (Abbie) and her lost lover (Ed) so we decided to maintain that particular theme and take out the idea of the dance routine.

We also talked about using a neckless which would represent and symbolise something of importance that the main protagonist (Abbie) was given once her other half had passed on. We have not yet been able to find a way in which we can fit this into the narrative where it is significant and a key part of the narrative.

As a group we also made the decision while out on filming to change some of the locations due to feeling as though they were better suited if in different places for the parts within the music video that we wanted to use. For example we decided to use a park with some swings, throwing leaves and having a playful fight underneath a tree and looking into the river alone. All of these were used due to searching, going back and looking at other locations on the Mac's and then decided, went to filming and felt that these decisions were more beneficial.

We are yet to get a crowd of people running behind and the main artist being in the middle and in the green screen, however after the rough cut viewing, it may be possible for us if our class members feel that it would be beneficial, to go out and film these elements.

However due to these changes we feel they were made for the better of our project and feel that we could potentially add them in if needed.

Thursday 13/10/11

As a group we uploaded the footage onto the Mac and looked through to see just what we had made the previous evening with regard to the piano footage in the music room. We were glad as we had some very promising footage with the angles that we were looking for and also a professional looking piece which ran throughout the entire song. We felt that we had enough close ups of Abbie and the song had been sung all the way through which meant we were able to sync together the song and the music on the timeline and from there can edit the other footage together.

Charlotte had already previously edited some footage together which were already on the time line. So Chris and Charlotte then went onto sinking together the footage of Abbi singing at the piano.

Abbie and Ed were also helping through explaining what they felt were good parts and bad parts.

Come Monday its going to be a tight deadline which means we are going to have to focus throughout the lesson to make sure we include all the footage and special effects. Hopefully through hard work and working as a group we will be able to come up with our rough cut deadline ready to be able to get feedback on.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Aims for Thursday Lesson 13/10/11

As a group we need to pull together and ensure that we make good progress as the rough cut deadline is coming up quite quickly being a week Friday, so we have to crack on with the editing of the footage that we have and make a good music video that could potentially be ready to be a final product.

Things to complete today:

-Get to a stage where we have a good range of footage on the timeline and special effects in place.

-Finish some of the draft blogs and upload more so we have a good range of stuff.

-Start to think about our digi pack and what pictures we may need to take while we have our artists in costume

Editing Techniques That Have Inspired Us and That We Would Like To Replicate in Our Video?

These are the things that we need to remember whilst filming our music video and that we have learnt through our practice filming:

- Remember to make sure all the clips run smoothly and there's no bumps or distortion
- Quick snappy images, ensure that video will not have parts that run on!
- Words to sink with the music - lip syncing
- Variety of shots
- Be aware of the surroundings
Thinking about continuity editing
Match on action
180 degree rule
Lighting conditions, linking with continuity
Costume continuity

What Do The Fans of The Genre Expect To See in Our Video?

 We think that the main theme that is evoked from this song when the audience listen to it is an emotional and sad song with a slow rhythm which emphasise these things. Thiswould best describe the style of music. Throughout the video audience would expect to see conventions within the video such as uses of different locations to maintain interest and focus on the video itself. Additionally there would be the expectation to have lots of close up shot types of the artist and focus on the main protagonistic figures within the video which are very a important very important element.

Throughout filming some test footage we were able to see what angles work best for the music video and for the genre of music and also what angels are not ao effective as we tried to film some sinilar elements that we planned to include within our actual music video. Although our test footage wasnt all aimed at what we are planning to produce, we still tried to focus on a main protagonist.

Mood Board- Charlotte's Work due to missing filming


On 12/10/11 i was unable to make the filming due to my train being cancelled. I did however spend alot of time planning the script and narrative for the group and made sure i got across what i would like them to feel.

So instead of doing nothing, i deicded once i got home i made a mood board to represent all the things we want in our music video and inspirations. The pictures would relate a lot to most our planning we did previously and also new ideas we have had since then.

I have also added in words which would describe our music video. These being how someone who has just broken up/lost someone would be feel. The two artists which are featured in the images are also the main inspirations for the music video. Most of our ideas came from looking at these two artists ideas and previous work.

After the Filming on Wednesday Evening

After college at the end of the day, Chris went to pick up the camera and we had planned to meet in the music room at 4:10.

Although we had planned to have a full group it only ended up being Chris, Ed and Abbie. Charlotte's train was cancelled and had no way to get into college. So Charlotte worked on the mood board for the group instead and put in put into the project that way.

All was ok though and Chris did the filming with help from Ed with Abbie playing her role.

The filming went pretty well and we got some close up footage of Abbie playing the piano at different angles and all the way through, giving us a point at which we can work on the rest of the video.

We filmed until about 6:15 pm and had a successful session in our minds.

Chris held onto the camera and will have it back to the media office in the morning, Thursday 13/10/11 before 9 am!

During the Lesson on Wednesday - 12/10/11

As a group we got the camera and uploaded the footage that we had captured on Monday evening out in town and there was a fair deal however some of it was not quite correct to fit in with the conventions and also we did not feel that we quite had enough variety of shot types.

So Charlotte stayed in the class room and added the music to the time line and started to edit piece's together which we could work with. From myself going through I realised that we had a lot of good footage for the narrative however we needed to get some footage of Abbi singing.

Chris, Abbi and Ed went out to the wooded area in college to try and get some additional footage and also use some more close up shot types and also have a bit of a play with different techniques such as vertigo and using different angles also.

At the end of the lesson as a group we planned out the after college filming which we would all attend in the music room which had previously booked and realised what was needed from that session to ensure a positive outcome and enough footage to fill the track.

Work for Thursday 13th

Hi Guys,

I hope your work is going well this week. Can you complete the following on your blog so that you are up to date for Monday.
- Finish your draft post about test filming
- Blog some editing techniques that have inspired you and that you would like to replicate in your video
- Blog some target audience research (what do the fans of the genre expect to see in a video -themes/performance etc)

Good luck with your filming.

Tuesday 11 October 2011

After Doing some Initial Filming and Test Footage

After the test filming last thursday that Ed, Chris and Charlotte carried out, we uploaded the footage to the computer and it gave us an idea of the sorts of things that we would need to consider in our actual music video filming.

It helped us to think about the locations, e.g. we booked for the music room so that we could have use of it on the wednesday of this week in the evening  - 12/10/11

This lesson, we were in the music room doing some test shots and a bit of initial footage in the music room.

Additionally, we planned what we would do in both evenings of filming outside of college.

Monday 10/10/11 - Filming in Town

Wednesday 12/10/11 - Filming in college in music room


Test Footage
After we got back to the class room and uploaded it onto the mac. We were able to to see the kind of close ups we were looking for. We noticed we didn't really have enough close ups and that we needed to bare this in mind. We also had to move the piano because of a door which did'nt look great in the background. The room we were using was quiet packed as well with musical instruments so we had to move all of them around.

After Filming on Monday Evening

Ed and Abbie picked up the camera and the tripod from the media office at 3:25 at the end of college and they met Chris at the grand arcade at 4pm.

When met up, we headed to our first filming location which was queens road, where we found an avenue of trees near to a pathway and the river and thought of how that would fit into the conventions and plans for our music video idea as it was a wooded type of area which was quite in the way of people and was good to represent sadness in the present and happiness from the past.

We after the first bit of filming did some additional footage involving ducks to try and add a different and slightly strange but interesting feature within the narrative of our music video and also went and set up near to some of the colleges where Abbie was on a bridge by the river.

We also filmed in a cafe to show a past time where Abbie and her previous sadly past away lover and then in the present day, in there on her own.

After that we went to the park where we filmed some more footage of Abbie and Ed together   and in the park so that we were able to film the bits with just Abbie and also Abbie with Ed.

We filmed until 6:30 pm due to the fast fading of the light and that we did not want to get footage that would not be worth having if the lighting was not enough.

I felt that the footage was good and that we had covered a good amount of the target that we had set for that evening of filming.

Monday 10 October 2011

Monday Lesson

Today we had the chance to start doing some initial filming for our music video. All the group was there and we were able to spend half the lesson in the music room with the piano.

We realised we had a problem with the background where the piano was, which meant we had to cover it up or move the piano. Chris went to text-styles and got some white material to match the paint on the walls however it still showed up on camera. So we moved the piano and all the chairs out the way so that the set was ready for filming and so that it did not look clearly like a music room.

After this we started filming with Abbi and Ed performing and Chris and Charlotte filming and making sure we got the right angels.

After we got the footage back to the media room we realised that it wasn't quite what we wanted and decided to use one of the days after college to film in there properly and make sure we got the footage right the next time and enabling us to have more time and less constraints.

Monday-Charlotte

Due to being unable to attend the filming session which took place after college, due to difficult circumstances. I spent time adding to all the planning and preperation i made sure i got across some of the ideas i wanted to see. I hope to be able to spend extra time editing to be able to make up for missing the filming.

Along with this hopefully i will be able to be present on some of the filming taken place in class.

Thursday 6 October 2011

Permission

Due to a lot of our areas needing permission to use we had to send emails and make phone calls to make sure we had access to them.

On 10/10/11 Charlotte, Chris and Ed went and asked the music room staff if we could borrow the grand piano at some stage in the week. We found a gap on the Wednesday and agreed, we later had an email of confirmation.


Another destination we also wanted to use was the Grand arcade. So Charlotte emailed them and asked to see if we could possible film for 20-30 minutes in there. 

We also had to have permission from the artist who we wanted to use the song from. So we had to send an email asking for persmission. We also needed to find out if there was anything they didnt want in the film and for any ideas they could give us.


 
Lastly we wanted to use the hospital, however we couldn't find an email address and didn't want to bother the hospital with phone calls encase someone needed to get through urgently. Instead we went over and asked, but the person we needed to talk to wasn't there. 

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Call Sheet

The  call sheet is a filmmaking term for a sheet of paper issued to the cast and crew of a film production, created by an assistant director, informing them where and when they should report for a particular day of shooting. Call sheets also include other useful information such as contact information (e.g. phone numbers of crew members and other contacts), the schedule for the day, which scenes and script pages are being shot, and the address of the shoot location. Call sheets may also provide logistical information regarding the location. It is common to find weather information, sunrise/sunset times, local hospitals, restaurants, and hardware stores. Call sheets have information about cast transportation arrangements, parking instructions and safety notes.

We all have each others numbers so that we are able to contact each other and arrange meetings and filming times etc.

We have done our lesson plans to ensure that the filming process and the process of making the video is efficient and so that everything runs as smoothly as possible. It also sets ourselves deadlines to meet to enable us to keep track of where we are and what we need to do at set times in addition to this document.

This Thursday - 6/10/11 The group will collect from Holly/ Amar the camera and use this within the lesson time to film.

All the group will be aware of this as for the initial filming all of the group should input we feel and then for some of the other filming dates we may just have 2 or 3 members from within our group.

Monday's Lesson - 10/10/11 In the lesson will get the camera at 9:00 and we will plan to use the piano in the music room, where we will film some of the piano elements within the video. We will have the whole group for this filming to ensure that everything is successful and that we can set the scene correctly for our proposed sections of filming. At the end of the lesson one of the group/ all members 

Monday evening after college - 10/10/11 Ed and Abi will collect the camera at 3:25. We will need to have the costumes for ed and abi ad the neckalce and props. We will all meet outside the front of Grand Arcade and from there we will move to our main location being queens road. We will film our footage and finish at 7pm due to the light closing in and the wrong conditions for our filming needs. Ed will take the camera home.

Tuesday Morning - 11/10/11 Ed will bring the camera and give it in to the media office.


Wednesday's Lesson - 12/10/11 More Piano footage. Also some forest footage Abi's piano part. Chris film. All edit some footage.


Wednesday Evening - 12/10/11 Chris will pick up the camera.  Decide to film the remainder of Abbie's footage in the piano room.


Thursday Morning - 13/10/11 Chris will bring the camera back and give it in to the media office.


Thursday Afternoon - 13/10/11  Editing of footage so far.




 

Health and Saftey

Whilst out filming there are things we will need to take into account. Such as-
  • Cyclists- Whilst out when filming we could be filming and they could collide with us.
  • Raining- If it is to rain and we are out filming we need to be careful the equipment doesnt get wet and electric shocks us. 
  • Transport- Being careful not to run into the road or film in places that are likely to cause harm to ourselves and others.
  • Animals- Making sure we don't touch them encase we harm ourselves.
  • Public- Be careful not to film people who may be unhappy about being filmed.
  • Tourists with bright yellow back packs and a bad attitude!
  • Birds (and their droppings)
  • Trips hazards, e.g. shoe laces and objects on the pavements. 

Shot List

Here is the shot list we have put together, it will also be used as a check list whilst filming. This means we will be able to keep track of what we have done and what needs to be done.