New Plans for the Introduction to my Music Video

Shot 1 for my music video was originally going to be my Dad and his friend being two members from Madness, singing "Our House" which is sampled at the beginning of the "Our House is Dadless" for 8 seconds. 

However I am currently thinking of new ways I can film for these 8 seconds of the video. An idea I have come up with is drawing the Madness band logo, either on a plain piece of white A4 paper and colouring the logo in, or even drawing the logo on the rest of my black A4 card and sticking it to the white paper. Doing this will show I have researched into the band being sampled in "Our House is Dadless" and considered using them as a reference in my music video. 

 If I follow this idea of drawing, I was considering of drawing the 'ska/2 tone man' and possibly, drawing the '2 tone/ska man' and 'beat girl' on a scooter which is iconic for the genre of the music video I am producing. Images of these are located to the left. 

Another idea I have come up with, is drawing the 'ska/2 tone man' dancing to the beat of the song, this might be difficult as I'll have to try to keep the logo the same however move the legs around. 

My final idea, is to having letters flying into the framing either saying "Our House is Dadless" or "Madness." This then introduces the music video, similarly to what the sample of "Our House" by Madness is doing. 

Filming Shot 10/11 with Tom Card

Yesterday (3.12.12) to ensure I had the chorus for my first draft, my cast member took the day off college to film these shots for me. Although it was difficult for my cast member to do this, we managed to work together to film a 'decent' shot, which gave me some ideas for when I re-shoot. 

Tom was slightly shy when it came to singing outside, however we filmed when people weren't around and this was when I managed to shoot a good shot, which I personally am proud of after how hard Tom had tried to over come his nerves. I had to split shot 10 into two shots; firstly, shot 10 was going to be the full chorus but Tom couldn't quite get the last line right as well as doing the rest of the chorus. Due to this small error, we decided I'd film him singing the chorus in one shot, but the last line "Something tells you you've got to get away from it" I filmed that one separately, later to be pieced up.

Originally shot 11 would be Tom walking out of the framing without singing, however now for shot 11 he's singing the last line, and walking out of the framing. 

First Draft for Music Video

Below I have inserted a first draft of my music video. Although there are many 'black spaces' in my draft at the minute, I am working on time to film these as it's difficult to get the right cast members who are willing to do the work, rather than people saying they will be a part of my music video, however then later let me down. 

Creating this first draft has enabled me to see how some shots will look in the video, and which shots will need to be re-shot. A prime example of this, is the chorus; my cast member couldn't sing the chorus properly he couldn't do the last line of the chorus "Something tells you you've got to get away from it," as he was getting mixed up with another band member in the actual song singing the chorus. We decided to shoot this line separate and then see if I could piece up the two shots together. Nevertheless, I have seen that this cannot be done unless my cast member stays in exactly the spot all the time, which I don't want him to do as this looks bland and boring. The chorus will definitely need some work doing to it, and will need to be taken several times until it is right. 

There are some shots which have not yet been filmed, however will be filmed over the Christmas period when I have more time to film and all my cast members will be out of their educational places. This makes filming easier and faster. 

Filming Shot Twenty-Seven with Tom

Filming shot twenty seven took some time to get right, as my cast member was trying to think of different ways we could shoot the shot. We decided to stick to my original idea; I have embedded the walk through which I did with my cast member. I talked my cast member through what I wanted him to do and say. 

However, when it came to filming my idea, I couldn't tilt the camera up and zoom out quick enough without the filming looking scruffy. I continued to try, nevertheless after practicing four times my cast member and I came to a conclusion; instead of him standing up to say "Man I can't get a lie in any day" he was to sit on the edge of the bed, then walk away from the camera. This shot didn't look too bad, however I will have to re-shoot due to the setting being a girls bedroom, and I'd shut my bedroom door which was a daft idea - I realised this whilst filming - as my cast member when he was to walk away, couldn't walk out of the framing completely. I have embedded the first shot I took of me trying to film my original idea, and I have also embedded my 'final' shot until I re-shoot.  

Filming Shot Nineteen with Tom

Filming shot nineteen didn't take too long to do once I had set up the tri-pod and camera in an efficient place. I originally wanted to film this shot by creating an over the shoulder shot, however due to the placing of my cast member I couldn't do this, not only was my cast member in a difficult position, I couldn't move enough furniture around in the living room to achieve the space I needed. I then tried to film from the right hand side of my cast member, but once again this couldn't be filmed. After moving the camera around decided to shoot the footage by tilting the camera down. Shown in the image to the right. 

Although filming was difficult as I had to stand on a chair and hold the tri-pod so I could get the decent shot. I think this shot is quite good, and I may not need to re-shoot this, although it depends on how it looks on my first draft. 

Filming Shot Twenty with Tom

Filming shot twenty was very easy to compile. My cast member Tom played on the PlayStation for the lyrics "Or if not I'll be on PlayStation." I have embedded the video below. 

Filming

Tomorrow (30.11.12) I am going to be filming with shots 19, 20 and 27 for my music video with my cast member Tom Card. These shots are considered to be easy, however they some will take more time to film than what others will do, due to the positioning of camera and whether my ideas for the shots will work. 

Filming Shot Eight

During the filming for shot eight I had to make some music notes to be above my stereo. To do this I used A4 black card from WHSmith and some metallic embroidery thread from Boyes, I drew music notes on the card lightly which I then cut out; once I'd drawn all the music notes I needed and cut them out I used to different coloured threads, a white metallic thread and a plain white thread to see which thread would reflect better of the black wall which I had chosen to film on. However this wasn't such a good idea, although the metallic thread was slightly hidden (the plain white was too noticeable), the music notes themselves were lost within the background. 

As I was filming in my room, I had to move my whole bedroom around just to move the stereo onto a white wall. However this caused some disruptions as my bedroom is quite small, therefore I had very little space to actually film or put the tri-pod. As shown in the image to the right, there was only about two foot for the tri-pod to fit into, therefore I had to push the tripod up slightly, and due to having uneven floors in my bedroom I had to change the height of the legs on the tri-pod to gain an even and balanced surface. 

Previously when I planned to film on a black wall, the surface which I originally had the stereo on was at a good height for me to film, and enabled me to not have much trouble when it came to filming. Nevertheless, due to my issue with the black wall, I had to move everything off my 'floating' shelf to put my stereo on there. This could have potentially been a hazard due to the shelf not been manufactured to have heavy material on it, however I filmed quickly to ensure a hazard didn't occur. Although filming on a white background provided a better shot, the thread was hidden easier and music notes stood out more, even though there were shadows this cannot be changed unless I use a studio light which I may use if I need to re-shoot. 

I filmed in both darkness and light; when filming in the dark I used the light from my video camera, whereas filming in the light I used my bedroom light for lighting. To get the music notes flowing, I blew them with my hair dryer on a low setting. After viewing both shots, I have decided that I may try to get some smaller lights to give better lighting, rather than have total darkness, and full light. Below I have embedded both videos of shot eight. 

Cast Update: Tom Card

Due to their being some personal issues occurring with my cast member Tom Card and my family, it has been slightly difficult to film some of the shots for my music video. I was contemplating on trying to find a new cast member to be the protagonist, but I believe it would be unfair on my cast member to make him leave the video behind when personal issues shouldn't be an issues with my educational work. 

Therefore after several talks, we have come to a conclusion that filming should occur when my family or his family aren't in the places where the filming is going to take place; this will enable the two of us to film peacefully without feeling a negative vibe around the location. Also, being able to film in a comfortable environment could and hopefully will ensure a positive vibe with Tom and myself, which also reflects on my music video. Such as, if Tom feels confident and comfortable he'll put more effort into the music video which then makes my final product look better. 

Plans to Re-shoot

After viewing some of the clips which I have taken for my music video, I have come to the conclusion that I need to re-shoot my first part of shot two. This is no fault of my cast member, but my own fault as I didn't properly plan how this specific shot would work. 

I decided that Helen should pop the party poppers one by one, but this looks awkward and doesn't look professional. Nevertheless the new decision which I have made is to pop all party poppers before the shot takes place, therefore Helen can hold all the confetti and throw bits into the air; this looks more professional and would then make this one clip look less awkward. 

Filming Shot Twenty-Six

Filming this shot was very easy, there was some washing to be done so I decided this would be the best time to film the shot. After watching this shot back I noticed I zoomed in too quickly when I wanted to do it slowly, and I didn't judge how long the water would take to show on the door. However after looking back at it I'm not too sure if I'll need to re-shoot or not. Below I have embedded the shot. 

Filming Shot Nine

The location in which shot nine was filmed was outside of my house, all the houses are the same except one person changing their white PVC windows to brown. Before I began filming this there were the local children playing on the green, I waited until they finished playing before I filmed. I did have a few issues when filming this pan shot, as immature adults kept walking in front of the camera and messing about which stopped me from filming several times. It wasn't until one of the neighbours came out and told them to leave me alone that I was able to film. 

Whilst filming shot nine, the children were about to come back onto the green to play but instead they politely waited behind me until I was done. Even though it took quite some time to film this specific shot, I got more than enough filming which can be cut down and edited. 

New Ideas for Filming

When I created my animatic storyboard I realised some of the shots were too long, and would be extremely boring to watch. Therefore I began to draw some ideas onto paper, so I would then be able to work from this. Also, when thinking of different ideas I came to the conclusion of sticking with a few shots which I'd originally planned however filming them from different shots to create a difference in the video. That way I still stick to my main idea however improve the shot material. 

Below I have inserted my new ideas, which I scanned into the computer using my HP Printer. Each new idea has the lyrics below them, and three of the new ideas have notes and time frames so I can follow my new ideas correctly and efficiently. 

Filming Shot Two with Helen

During filming the three shots of Helen I had to make some preparations to ensure when it comes to editing I had the correct spacing between each shot, that way I could pair them all up to create a split screen. 

To create the correct spacing I asked Helen to position herself to the left, centre and right side of the frame. I then placed tape on the floor to ensure Helen would be in the correct position for me to film; even though the space for filming was slightly tighter than I originally planned, the shots look OK  But I already think that maybe a re-shoot may be an option to ensure that the shot is exactly how I want it and not all over the place. Also, when popping the party poppers it was quite difficult to pop them without making it look too much of a cheap production; therefore I am already thinking of ways in which I can develop this shot more. To the left is an image I have taken showing the markings on the floor in my kitchen which Helen was to follow. 

When filming these shots, one of them consisted of Helen spraying party spray directly towards the camera. However after reading the safety precautions we made sure the party spray wasn't sprayed on any of the white walls, or white appliances due to the staining which can occur. Also, to keep things hygienic in my own kitchen Helen made sure the party spray didn't go anywhere near the counters or work tops, due to food being prepped on these areas. Therefore when Helen was spraying the party spray, we opted a direct shot at the camera which resulted in the tripod being covered in sticky party spray; an image of this is shown to the right. 

Below I have embedded all three shots which I had taken, they'll be embedded in the order in which they'll be split when shown on my music video. 

Cast Update: Helen McCarthy

Today I managed to find time to do some filming which involved Helen. In a previous blog post I stated that I was busy the majority of the time, and I needed to manage my time differently to ensure I could film. Today, I was able to film the shots which Helen featured in. Although watching back these shots I have noticed I could possibly need to reshoot, to ensure I receive the maximum quality and the right type of shot. 

Risk Assessment

I created a risk assessment which is based on the risks which could occur during the filming of "Our House Is Dadless." Creating this risk assessment has made me realise the potential hazards and what I can work around. 

Cast Update: Helen McCarthy

Helen has been really involved in the music video, however due to my own personal commitments it's been difficult in meeting up with her. But Helen herself is very understanding and accepts that the filming could spring upon her at any moment. Therefore she's being very committed and has been carrying her clothing with her all the time - I have seen this and was shocked at how committed she really was. 

This is showing excellent signs of commitment, it is now down to me to ensure I can get her in for filming. 

Cast Members: Helen McCarthy

My friend Helen McCarthy is going to be involved in my music video; she is showing signs of enthusiasm already and keen to help me as much as she can. Helen will be playing the role of the girl who appears continuously in my music video, she's portrayed as the sister of the protagonist (Tom Card). 

Helen studied GCSE Drama throughout secondary school, and then again at Hull College. Even though she dropped out of both, she is still personally a good drama student and really gets into the role which she is to play. This for me is excellent as she will be able to act differently for different shots. 

Also, due to the first shot which involves Helen (shot 2) being tied to the lyrics "My house is a mad house" she's already picking clothing herself which can be reflected in this specific shot. We're working closely when discussing the different costumes, but I'm mainly leaving it up to Helen to decided what clothing she wants to wear, therefore she has had some input in the music video. 

Cast Update: Tom Card

This cast member has been thoroughly listening to "Our House Is Dadless" to ensure he understands the tone and pace of the lyrics, as this then therefore enables me to match up his lip syncing with the lyrics of the song when editing my music video. 

Recently I haven't been able to film any shots with him in it though, due to Tom having an illness and it's reflecting on his performance. As the director of this video I have told him I'm not going to be filming him until he's fit enough to perform, as it reflects badly on my music video and he could get worse, which would also be bad for both of us. 

Equipment Used to Plan and Create my Music Video

When planning and producing a music video a lot of equipment is involved. During today's society technology has evolved widely from previous years; sometimes when I think of ideas for my music video I can either type down my notes on either my Apple iPad 3 or BlackBerry Bold 9900 whereas previously these note takings would have included pencil/pen and paper. 

I have created a new board on my Pinterest account which shows all the equipment which I have used to both plan and produce my music video. I will be uploading more images throughout this production, to show the different technologies I have used. This is the link which I shows all the images of my equipment: Equipment and Software Pinterest Board

To show an example of what my Equipment and Software Pinterest board looks like I have print screened my board, and inserted it within the post. In comparison to how I inserted my example of Props and Costume Pinterest board. 

Cast Members: Tom Card

I have chosen a close friend to be my protagonist; Tom is a reliable cast member as he always shows up to any planned events, and even shares his own ideas for the shots which will include him. When deciding which costumes he could wear in the making of my music video, we worked together to see which pieces of clothing worked well and which outfit he felt the most comfortable in. Due to it being cold weather now we had to take this into account the amount of clothing which he would have to wear, ensuring he didn't catch any illnesses throughout the filming as this could ruin the rest of the filming. 

Working with Tom will provide a very easy and stress-free production, due to the two of us getting along and working as a team. 

My Audience - Audience Profile

The statistics I am using to find out my ideal target audience for my music video can be found on my blog to the right, (the polls). Each poll is helpful and will determine who I can target my audience to, also it will help me during my final evaluation as I will then be able to explain why my video is targeted towards this specific audience. 

I have inserted my audience profile; this shows the statistics in an easier way. By evaluating the audience profile, I can see that my music video will be targeted towards both male and females, however more towards females as they have a higher percentage of 66%. Overall, the music video will be tailored towards teenagers of an age of 16-19 living in the Hull area. Even though the statistics show that indie/ska isn't a popular choice of genre I am still going to use the same track for the small minority of people who like this genre, therefore my music video would be viewed by a niche audience who appreciate the lyrics more than a mainstream audience would. I decided to ask my audience what they are either studying or have studied, the options can be found on my poll to the right; after analysing my evidence I have found 50% study/studied media, creative writing and journalism; 25% study/studied science, health and social care; finally 50% study/studied teaching, sociology and psychology.

Overall there's a percentage of 54% who like the performance form to a music video, I have decided to use lip syncing as a form of my performance. There is some form of narrative, although I am aiming to be more performance formed. 

Researching into the cover of "Our House Is Dadless"

Every track which is to be released to the public has to have a cover; sometimes the cover isn't very interesting and it just has the track name written across it. Nevertheless I want to make mine look interesting but not too 'wild' as that could be seen as a contrast to the genre. 

The cover for the "Our House Is Dadless" track is slightly interesting, however to someone who has listened to the track before may not understand the imagery. The imagery reflects the lyrics and the meaning of the song; I have inserted the bands single cover to the left. The lyrics reflect how each of the band members have grown up without having a father figure or their real Dad in their family life. Therefore having a woman doing the 'female jobs' shown in the imagery it reflects the lyrics within the song.

Nevertheless the album cover "It Was This or Football: First Half" doesn't really reflect any of the tracks which are featured in the album. However not many album covers do reflect each individual track on the album, as it would cost too much to produce and the album cover may not look appealing nor interesting. I have inserted the album cover below the single track. 

After researching into different indie bands album covers I have come across a similarity within each album cover. Often enough the album covers feature one of three things: 

• A band or artist
• Image related to the album 
• Have the band/artist name of the cover 
• Quite vintage film lense on the covers

When it comes to me creating my own cover to promote the track I'll take into consideration the research which I have conducted, this creates verisimilitude towards to genre. 

Purchasing the Props - 31.10.2012

Following the production plan I set myself, I chose today to purchase all the props which I needed. Fortunately I only needed to purchase a few props as I already had the majority of my props; however unfortunately due to running low on money I couldn't purchase three materials which I needed to create another prop, which was clear string/fishing wire, cardboard and black acrylic paint to create the music notes and hang them from my ceiling above the stereo. 

These items will be purchased soon and will be added to my Pinterest page. 

Filming Shot 2 - 30.10.12

Today I was supposed to be filming shot 2 with the cast member Hollie, however she was being awkward and wouldn't contribute to the filming. She told me she was going to come to my house (where the filming is occurring) however she didn't turn up, and decided to go out with her other group of friends. To find out what was happening I rang her, and she told me if I wanted to film her it would have to be done at her house as she couldn't be bothered to come to my house. 

This has shown me that sometimes the people you are friendly with aren't always the best people to work with. I have come to the conclusion to use my other friend Helen, as Hollie showing early signs of lack of contribution and reliability. 

'Easy' Shots and Costume Research - 29.10.2012

Today I filmed some of the shots which would be classed as easy, such as the pan of the houses and the washing machine being filled. Doing these 'easy' shots first will enable me to spend more time on my more time consuming shots, as they may need to be re-taken if not up to the standard I expect them to be. I still need to film some of the other close ups such as shot 8, 17, 19 and 25. However these all need some of the other cast members and props which are not yet ready. 

Also during today I completed some research into how much it would cost me to either purchase or hire two police uniform; the outcome was disappointing as it would cost too much money to do either of these financial outcomes. In comparison to this is the expense of all the material needed to make my own police uniform, therefore the full outcome of this research has made me realise the plan I wanted to follow I cannot due to the high expense. 

Casting for "Our House Is Dadless"

Due to producing a music video I will need a cast to be involved in the production, similarly to directors needing a cast for their films. Casting is important when producing a music video as they help to create the directors imagination for the video. 

In my video I won't need many cast members, although the original song "Our House Is Dadless" by KiD BRiTiSH is a group of six, I have chosen to only have one main singer which not only makes it easier to film I also don't have to be worried about certain people within the cast not turning up and playing their part. For other cast members I have chosen people who I believe are reliable, however if they begin to slack I will need to talk to them and persuade them to be more reliable and help more often. Nevertheless this method doesn't always work, therefore if the same person/group of people keep choosing to mess around I will have to tell them they are no longer in my music video. 

Cast Members 
Protagonist - Tom Card 
Two members of Madness - Dad and Andy 
The Mum - Mum or Sharon Card
Stranger - Dad
Young girl - Hollie Dearing / Helen McCarthy 

The reason I have chosen these people is because I believe their reliable and will contribute in any way they can. Some cast members said last year they'd be in my music video when I told them what the Media Studies course consisted of. 

Images of Props/Costumes - 28.1012

To show my findings for the props and costumes which may and most likely will be used within my music video, I used Pinterest. I also created a board specifically for the props and costumes, this also enables me to add to it over time and the images will be under a tailored category. The following link takes viewers to my Pinterest account Props and Costumes Pinterest Board

Below I have inserted a print screen as to what my Props and Costumes board on Pinteret looks like. 

Location Images - 28.10.12

Below I have embedded a presentation created with web software Empressr. The presentation consists of images of the locations where shots within my video will take place; over time as more images are added the presentation will also be updated. 

Prop/Costume Plan - 28.10.2012

After following the production plan, I have created a prop and costumes plan. This plan shows all the different props and costumes which I may need throughout the filming of "Our House is Dadless." Although some of the props/costumes may not be needed, it was best if everything was included in the plan therefore I won't be unorganised when I come to filming the music video.

Now I have completed this plan, I'll be writing the rest of the list which I created on the 26/10 to see what props/costumes need to be purchased. 

Prezi Presentation of Location for Music Video and Go.Animate Discussion - 27.10.12

Below I have embedded a presentation of images taken on the estate I live on and are basing my music video on. Using Prezi has enabled me to show my images in a presentation different to what will be used when showing the exact locations of where some shots will be taken; broadening the usage of different web software's enables me to show my findings differently. 

Research and Findings of the Location for "Our House Is Dadless" music Video. on Prezi
To evaluate and discuss these images I have used Go.Animate. This web program has allowed me to show two people discussing the needs of this research, and why it is has been helpful to the production of my music video. 

Discussion on the Prezi Presentation by s0013339 on GoAnimate

Animation Software - Powered by GoAnimate.

My Findings - 26.10.2012

During this day I had planned to go to the protagonists house and take some photographs of the room and clothing which will be included within my music video. However my findings will be shown on a different date as they're included in another task which I have set myself; the images of the room will be shown in the Prezi presentation, however the images of the location where the exact shot will be taken will be shown in the Empressr presentation. 

In comparison to this, after researching what costumes would look good in my music video and my protagonist feels comfortable in I will be showing my findings on Pinterest, alongside other props and costumes. The URL for Pintrest will be uploaded onto my blog on 28 November, as I am following the tasks I have set for myself. 

Production Plan for my own Music Video

Instead of jumping straight into filming my music video I am going to stick to my production plan; the dates will be very close to each other therefore I'll be giving myself deadlines which I will be sticking to. Following the production plan I will be taking photos and uploading them to my blog to show evidence of my research and findings. 

26.10.2012 
I will be going to my protagonists' house to choose the costumes which he will be wearing throughout the music video, and to see whether there are any pieces which will need to be bought which can help him fit into the role I want him to play. 

Due to the location of my video being inside and outside a house I will be using my protagonists bedroom for one shot, as the mise-en-scene used within this shot will created verisimilitude as if it were filmed in my room it would be obvious that the male protagonists wasn't in his 'male' room he would be in a females room. To show evidence of my findings I will need to take several photos of the room and concentrate the most on where my shot will be taken. 

If there are any pieces which need to be purchased, I will be writing a list and then purchasing everything on that list at a later date when I have sorted through the props needed.

Every bit of research and findings will be posted into a new post. Each post will include their own title and the date following it. 

27.10.2012
Due to me basing my music video on a council estate, on this day I will be walking around the area which some of the shots will be filmed and taking photos of each area which I believe will be suitable to film in. 

I will be uploading all images to Prezzi and using Go.Animate to show my decision on which area I am planning on filming in. 

28.10.2012
Take photos of where the shots will be taken exactly, not only will I have a direct path on where my filming is going this slight exercise will help me with my storyboard when I develop it later on. I'll be showing these images through a web presentation software - Empressr. 

Create a plan of all the props/costumes which will be needed, whether they're used or not. I'll be scanning the plan onto my laptop and uploaded it onto blogger. Once I've created this plan I'll be gathering all the props which I have already and taking photos of these, to show my findings all images will be uploaded onto Pinterest. I will be writing a list of the props/costumes which need to be purchased. 

29.10.2012
Film some of the shots which would be classed as 'easy' which then helps to focus on the shots with the protagonist and other cast members. 

I'll also be researching into how much some of the costumes will be to purchase, for example the police uniform. Also, I'll be looking into whether it's cheaper to purchase or hire these costumes, however if this isn't applicable I'll plan on making the costumes myself. 

30.10.2012
Film shot 2 as this will take some time setting up the exact places where the cast member has to stand. 

Due to have a driving lesson on this day it will be difficult for me to do anything creative to do with the filming as I'll be interrupted. 

31.10.2012
Purchase all the props/costumes which will be needed for the filming, if it's necessary purchasing the fabrics to create the police uniform if it's too expensive to hire/purchase. 

Storyboard for Music Video

These two images are the storyboard to my music video; I'll be working alongside this storyboard to ensure I achieve the video I am hoping to produce.

Breakdown in times for the lyrics to KiD BRiTiSH - Our House Is Dadless

Below I have inserted two scanned sheets of the lyrics to my chosen song; timing each line in both the verse and the chorus will help me when it comes to filming my own music video. Also, using these sheets I'll be able to time each shot well which should result in perfect lip syncing.

 

Animatic Storyboard

The animatic of my storyboard was created to give me an idea of how the shots would look on a video, I was able to put the shots to music and time them for how long they would be seen on the video. This was very helpful, I have been able to note down some of the changes which need to be made and I have some new ideas for the video. This animated storyboard see's some of the shots being very long, some 9 seconds long; however, with the ideas I have now hopefully this will end up looking better than my original idea. 

I have also realised that filming some of the shots twice, possibly three times but from different angles may actually make the video more appealing to the target audience. Creating an animatic has opened up my eyes as to how easy it can be to plan a video, but how hard it can be to produce a good quality and successful music video. Below I have embedded my animatic of my storyboard. 

Evaluation of the Re/Deconstruction of the Media Text

When the task to reconstruct and deconstruct a media text began myself and five others joined as a team as we believed that we would work well together. After allocating the roles of each other we then decided on which media text we would be reconstructing, after going through each members storyboard we all came to the conclusion to reconstruct Missing Andy “Made In England.”  All six of us believed that this song would be a medium leveled video to reconstruct due to the usage of different shots within cinematography, elements of performance with the lip sync and the editing techniques such as the dissolve half way through the video.

Beginning to reconstruct the media text was difficult at first due to the rain, therefore the fifth shot was slightly rushed and the tracking shot wasn't steady as we tried to protect the JVC HD Everio video camera from the rain. Nevertheless we decided to re-shoot shots three six as the weather would have affected our final piece, as there were rain drops on the camera making the quality of the video look poor. Also when I filmed shot four I got confused and did a tilt up and zoomed out, whereas the actual clip was an extreme close up of a building with a slow zoom out and tilt down, therefore I had to re-shoot this shot with the help of the director.

As we continued to reconstruct the media text there were some difficulties within the group, one member wasn't here due to an illness although this didn't affect the filming; it did cut back on some of the editing as he was a chosen to be one of our editors, nevertheless we had already allocated two other editors within our group.  As friends we get along, however as a group I personally believe we struggled as we argued and became easily stressed over the smallest things; two editors were playing around with the shots and the music therefore this lost us time, towards the end of the week when we were getting closer to the deadline we had to work hard and the director had to basically stand over the editors to ensure they were doing their job properly. Another problem we had was our producer found it difficult to borrow an acoustic guitar due to a music student needing to use it, therefore we had to use an electric guitar which looked out of place due to the music having the sound of an acoustic, nevertheless we managed to cope fine and ensure the shots were correct.

From completing this task I have learnt that sometimes it is best not to work in groups, however if group work is needed then possibly work with people who are more reliable and don’t mess around, therefore working with people who I wouldn't normally work with could have been better. I have also learnt that when it comes to filming my own music video I need to get everything right first time, ensure that I have all the mise-en-scene I need and ensure the casting team are always on time and turn up. I think that as a group we realised the song itself was good however the music video wasn't as good, and very difficult to reconstruct. 

Final Production of the Deconstruction of Missing Andy - Made In England

Below is the final product of the re/deconstruction of Missing Andy - Made In England.

Equipment/Software Used Within The Re/Deconstruction Task

During the re/deconstruction of Missing Andy - The Way We're Made as a group we have used different forms of equipment and software. Usually when Media Studies students need to film there's quite a queue for the video cameras, however I had a video camera which we could use for the reconstruction of Missing Andy - The Way We're Made. This made things easier as we always had a video camera on hand therefore we never fell behind on filming, unless the weather caused this.

The equipment and software we used for reconstructing our chosen song:

• JVC HD Everio 
• Tripod 
• Adobe Premier Elements
• YouTube

Production Plan

28 September 
Plan shooting times and where is the best place to film the different shots. 

• Fozzy's 
• Wyke/Kelvin car park 
• Side wall at the Ash Building 

1 October 
Film the 'easy' shots

• Tracking shot of Scott's feet - shot one / College pavement outside the front of Oak
• Tracking shot with the shops (Fozzy's) in the left hand side of the frame - shot two
• Medium shot of Scott walking from around the corner - shot seven / shoot from the front of Fozzy's 

2 October

Film the rest of the 30 seconds 

• Medium wide shot of Benn playing the guitar - shot three / Ash wall 
• Medium close up of Benn playing the guitar - shot six / Ash wall 
• Long shot of Scott walking past some railings - shot five / in the car park, opposite the side of Oak 
• Zoom out and tilt down of the back of Fozzy's - shot four / shoot from the field 

3 October 

Due to the rain on 2 October we decided to film Benn's shots playing the guitar and Scott's shot of walking round the corner. We also finished the rest of the filming which we didn't have chance the previous day, once again the rain kept us inside. 

• Medium wide shot of Benn playing the guitar - shot three / Ash wall 
• Medium close up of Benn playing the guitar - shot six / Ash wall 
• Original film syntax: Scott walking towards the camera with a slight zoom in from around the (possibly) electric block - shot seven / Electric box opposite the side of Oak
• Reverse film syntax: Scott walking away from the camera down between parked cars - shot eight / Kelvin car park
• Long shot of Scott walking behind the park car - shot nine / Kelvin car park 

5 October

We needed to film shot four again due to rain on 2 October and not doing the shot properly.

• Extreme close up of the back of Fozzy's and a slow zoom out - shot four / shoot from the field
• Begin to edit and sort through the different shots we've taken to see which ones are better than others. 

8 October

• Set up the editing suite
• Continue with editing try to be close to finishing
• Add the track 
• Edit the shots of Benn to fit in with the music due to the lip sync 

9 October

• Piece the edited shots together 

10 October

• Finish the editing 
• Embed to YouTube and each member of the groups blog

Deconstruction and Reconstruction of a Media Text

In this project myself and five others are to shoot 30 seconds of an existing song which has a storyboard of thirty seconds - drawn by one of the members already. Each member has a role and within this group are: 
Myself - Camera Woman 
Poppy - Director (http://poppyelgeya2media.blogspot.co.uk/)
Hannah - Producer (http://hannahjanea2media.blogspot.co.uk/)
Benn - Camera Man / Editor / Cast Member (http://benngreen-asmedia2.blogspot.co.uk/)
Scott - Editor / Cast Member (http://scottdaviesa2media.blogspot.co.uk/)
Peter - Editor / Camera Man (http://peterholdernesa2.blogspot.co.uk/)
Although each of us were allocated roles we all contributed to each of the different roles given; we came together as a group to ensure we all felt confident with each shot. Being such a tight nit group we were able to feel comfortable when shooting the video and are confident with what the final product will look like. Between the six of us we came to a conclusion to shoot 30 seconds of Poppy's video, Missing Andy - Made In England - embedded below - and redrew the storyboard so we knew exactly what shots we needed to do, the transitions and type of shot. 

Skills Development Essay

After completing the perfume advertisement I began to work on the preliminary task which was to create a front cover and mock up contents page for a college magazine, the college could either be Wyke or made up. After this was complete the foundation portfolio work began; this included creating a front cover, contents page and double page spread for a music magazine with a genre of the person’s choice. The images used for both tasks had to be our own, a medium close up of the model on magazines, a house style theme and finally the layout of the magazine had to look professional and something others would be interested in reading.

Post Production

Before the preliminary task and the foundation portfolio was set I had very little skills in Adobe Photoshop, therefore I thought I would struggle with the tools and the programme itself unless I received some help from the teachers or Ray. I didn’t have many skills in Adobe Photoshop due to never having to use it previously and even when I tried to use it I got so confused I decided not to bother. Similarly to this I didn’t have any skills in my friends’ DSLR Canon E0SD 1000 as I’d never used it before, nevertheless after she taught me the basics I felt comfortable using it. In contrast to this I had skills in Microsoft Publisher, Google’s Blogger and using my own Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W210; Microsoft Publisher was a common programme used throughout secondary therefore I knew the majority of the tools and could use the programme without any help; Google’s Blogger was slightly new to me but I still understood the basics to the blogging programme due to having three of my own personal blogs. Finally I had skills and understood the different setting of my Sony camera due to having had it a few years I was able to work the camera perfectly until it was damaged.

Research and Planning, using conventions from real media texts

To begin both tasks I research into different magazines which held the same genre as mine as this enabled me to see how they used the conventions and to see whether they broke any; doing this gave me ideas on how I could complete my own magazines. Once I’d researched into three different magazines for the preliminary task I then did a LIIAR (Language, Ideology, Institution, Audience and Representation) analysis for each magazine to compare the three, using this method of research I was then able to conduct my own ideas on how I could make my magazine more appealing than what I had analysed. Similarly for the foundation portfolio I researched into three different music magazines which held the same genre of my magazine, I used the LIIAR analysis for this research also. After analysing both the different college and music magazines I took some time to see which conventions would work well for each of my magazines, I feel I didn’t do so well at this with the college magazine however after taking some time to look at the conventions used for my specific genre I was able to use and break some of these conventions when I created my own music magazine. Once all research was complete I was able to begin planning the shape of my college magazine; when planning the college magazine I created two digital mock ups, in contrast to this for the foundation portfolio I created 4 drawn plans for the front cover, two digital mock ups and the online presentation tool Prezzi to create a presentation of all the images I had taken. I felt I needed to take more time with planning the foundation portfolio as I only did two plans in the preliminary task and didn’t show my full potential.

Digital Technology

Throughout the process of both the preliminary task and the foundation portfolio I used many different digital technologies such as, Adobe Photoshop CS5 and CS4, Microsoft Publisher 2007 and 2010, finally two different cameras a compact Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W210 and a DSLR Canon E0SD 1000. Using these different technologies enabled me to broaden my skills as I had never really used Adobe Photoshop or the DSLR camera in the past; using Adobe Photoshop in the preliminary task enabled me to pick up some very small skills however I still struggled with the programme, nevertheless when it came to the foundation portfolio I felt I needed to show off the very little skills I had, therefore I created four drafts and received feedback on each of these drafts until I began to use different tools on the programme which enabled me to complete my final product to grade a B. Using both the compact and DSLR camera I was then able to see which camera I was more comfortable with; when I was creating the college magazine I needed to take a clear medium shot of the student, however from never using a DSLR camera before my friend gave me a small lesson on how I was to use the camera to ensure I got the shots I wanted, overall I was happy with the photos I’d managed to get, however when I used my compact Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W210 for the first images for the foundation portfolio I weren’t as happy with the images due to the state my camera was in, after using the DSLR again for the final photos I felt confident with the images and more confident with my work.  

Creativity

When it was time to finally begin the creative stage of both the preliminary task and the foundation portfolio I was slightly on edge as I was unsure on how to work Adobe Photoshop properly and worried about the difference of CS4 and CS5, however after realising the two are very similar I felt more confident in my work but still struggled with the basic tools until I got to understand what each tool did; creating the college magazine at first was difficult nevertheless after creating four drafts I felt confident. In contrast to this is when I started to create the music magazine for the foundation portfolio, I understood the basic tools and after planning thoroughly each stage I was going to complete I was far more organised than I was previously. After planning two photo shoots I was far more aware of how the images will work for my genre, the first photo shoot wasn’t as good as the male models didn’t pay attention to what I was saying and they chose to do their own thing, which then made my music magazine look unprofessional. However when working with the female model she was confident in some images, ready to work, listened to both me and the other person I was doing the photo shoot with, this then lead to having a better relationship with the model and making my music magazine look more professional plus the image went well with the conventions for my genre.

Overall I think my skills have developed with time and now I feel comfortable and confident when using Adobe Photoshop. The preliminary task and foundation portfolio have taught me skills that not only have helped me gain an understanding of Adobe Photoshop but it has also helped for when I want to edit some of my own photos in my spare time. 

Feedback for the Influential Media Texts

I have embedded my first video feedback for the influential media texts; the interviewee had some good points which I believe will be easy to evaluate when producing my own music video. 

Influential Media Texts

Below are three influential media texts which I believe relate to my chosen song 'Our House Is Dadless' by KiD BRiTiSH. Using these media texts will enable me to conduct feedback interviews which will also ensure I will hear the opinions on all media texts. This helps me to gather all psychographic views. 

How do you think this image relates to the song "Our House Is Dadless"? 


Do you think images similar to this one will have influenced KiD BRiTiSH when they were writing this song? 

The track samples Madness' "Our House", do you think KiD BRiTiSH were influenced by Madness to write this song? Explain your answer. 


Do you think that Madness possibly influenced how KiD BRiTiSH dress? Explain your answer. 

In the track one of the members mentions an 'alki' how do you think this image will have been an influence to the song and the making of the video? 


Do you think maybe each member of KiD BRiTiSH were surrounded by alcoholics during their time growing up? 

Audience Key Terms

Demographic Data: Statistical characteristics of the population which include: social class, gender and age (usually many more however for media we use these). The data is mainly used in sociology, marketing and public policy. Often referred to as hard data.

Psychographic Data: Something which separates individuals from one another such as the different tastes, an example of this would be if person A likes dark chocolate and person B likes milk chocolate.

Qualitative Data: Usually when a person/group has been interviewed they would respond with a detail descriptive answer which can be observed however not measured. Qualitative is quality.

Quantitative Data: Mainly numbers which enable the interviewee to measure the answers they receive from questions however cannot observe like they would be able to with qualitative data. Quantitative is quantity.

Summary of Summer Work

Over the summer period I have been researching into the genres I have an interest in, firstly I had chosen the grime genre however I didn't feel so comfortable with this genre therefore I picked indie/ska. After choosing my genre I researched into the bands I like best within this genre which is KiD BRiTiSH, I choose their song "Our House Is Dadless;" after picking the song I then research into the band, the research can help me when I come to shoot my own video. 

When all research for the artist was complete to ensure I had an understanding of the genre I researched into the genre itself. To show my findings I embedded a music video and picked images which represented the style of the genre, clothes wise. 

One Minute Storyboard

To show I have an understanding of a music video I previous created a blog post on the conventions which are used in Ian Brown's "Stellify" music video. However now to show I have an understanding on how a storyboard works when creating a music video, I am going to use the same artist and song to show the different cinematography elements used. The storyboard can either be drawn or created on a computer, I have opted to make my storyboard on the computer as it shows I have technological skills plus I can show the viewer the exact shot I am writing about. 

Below is the storyboard for Ian Brown's track "Stellify" and an embedded video.