Evaluation

The brief I had chosen to was “a promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

§  A website homepage for the band

§  A cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)

§  A magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package)
Unlike the AS coursework brief "The main task in this piece of coursework to complete a front page, contents page and a double page spread for a new music magazine. However if the work is done in a group, each individual has to produce their own edition of the magazine, following the same house style." Last year I worked as an individual and created a rock genred magazine. Whilst working as an individual, I decided to create a cover for its release as part of a digipak and a website home page for the band; as I believe these are what is connected with a music band/artist. Usually the advertisement for the digipak from a band/artist isn’t an advertisement as such, the journalists working for the magazine are more than likely going to interview the artists/band and then do a small advertisement at the bottom of the article, I know this from researching into different music magazines and creating my double page spread in my AS Media Coursework. Therefore I decided that this wouldn’t be appropriate for me as personally I tend to not notice the small advertisements, but research for new album releases via the bands/artists webpage.

When first planning my music video I chose the genre Grime as this is my most favourite genre, and I believed I would be able to work well with this genre. The song I had chosen was “Slaves” by popular grime artist Kano; nevertheless when I began to think about the storyboard my ideas were far too extravagant. The cost of the video would have been astronomical; I did have some of the cast members needed for the video however due to their jobs and/or college commitments it would have been impossible to film. Therefore I changed my mind and decided to work within the Indie/Ska genre by picking Manchester band KiD BRiTiSH and their take on Ska band Madness “Our House” with “Our House is Dadless.” When I picked the song I knew I’d be able to produce a well-structured video due to the area I live in and my interpretation of the song.

My target audience for the music video I have produced is teenagers aged 16-19, similarly to this the music magazine I created during my AS year had a target audience of 15-24 year olds. Although this may seem like a different age they are quite similar in terms of music, usually 16-19 teenagers illegally download music online after researching through YouTube into different and new bands that they may like; the reason my target audience is 16-19 is due to the 77% stating they are in this age bracket on my poll on my blog. As 54% of the audience said they prefer performance form in music videos I gave them this in my video, as I believed they would prefer this to the 45% that said they like the abstract and narrative form. Usually teenage girls like to see the male artist in the music video if they are attracted to them, as 66% of my target audience are females I decided on using a male cast member not just because of the band being all males but because this would fit in with the needs of the audience.

When I decided on finally filming to KiD BRiTiSH “Our House is Dadless” I originally wanted to use my cast member and his friends, however after long talks I realised they wouldn’t be as committed as my cast member and this in the long run would ruin my music video. Therefore I had decided to change the band into a solo artist knowing I would be able to film my cast member (Tom) at any given time, as we were relatively close. I decided to ask a few of my females friends to feature on the music video, at the time I asked a very close friend to film for me however after being let down I made the decision to ask someone I knew would be interested, this was then the better idea as she was extremely committed to the role even though she only had to do three things in three different shots.

Form and Content affect meaning. Forms and conventions.

Giving a critical analysis of my final pieces (music video, digipak and website) I have come to the conclusion I am quite happy with them all, however each of them do differ when I analysed them. Under each subheading I have given a brief analysis of the music video and my ancillary texts.

Music Video

For the opening scene I wrote the title of the song on a piece of paper, whilst filming in a medium close up. As the beginning of the song is 8 seconds long I had to speed up the writing process to ensure it would fit in this small time frame, doing this has enabled me to show more than just the cast member singing throughout the song which is what I have always seen in indie/ska music videos. Below is a screen shot of the scene that I have slightly analysed.

Overall I think the music video communicates to the target audience in a specific way, as KiD BRiTiSH said about their track “Our modern day take on growing up in a single parent household!” I believe I had conveyed this too in my music video; stereotypically people who live on council estates are usually ‘dadless’ therefore this is why I had chosen to film on a council estate. In the music video I am trying to convey a message to the target audience, that whether they are from a council estate or not they are able to achieve, if this were a real media text the cast member would have been from a council estate without a father figure but still being a successful musician. Below I have embedded my final edit of my music video. After 2:48 there is black showing up until 7:05, I have been unable to get rid of this blackness without ruining the video itself. 

Digipak

To link the music video and digipak I used the images from my video “Our House is Dadless” I believed this would show a form of continuity. After analysing the digipak I have come to the conclusion that the images look quite dark, however this isn’t a problem as I think it works well with the stereotypical feel to a council estate, drab, dark and dangerous. I didn’t follow the usual conventions for a digipak under the indie/ska genre, as I wanted to challenge them and make a difference; as the “It Was This or Football” album was only available to download online I can only analyse the front cover that is shown below. However I think using slightly toned down images on my digipak helps to reflect the view of a council estate, whereas the bright front cover from KiD BRiTiSH’s digital album makes the album seem happy when it fact it’s actually quite a sad and dreary album.

Website

Unlike some other indie/ska websites the website I created for my ancillary text is quite plain however with a monochrome theme to it as I believed this theme would fit in well with the genre. To make the website look more realistic I’ve embedded the music video onto the front page and an image of the digipak, with a caption stating it’s available to purchase now. When analysing both my website and similar band Madness’ blog/website I have noticed a lot of difference, however I have also analysed my model website which was Calvin Harris’ webpage.

Calvin Harris' website

Madness' blog/website

TGC website

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

When planning what I would do for my music video I used YouTube to search for indie videos, which I was then planning on analysing the codes and conventions used. I however decided to analyse the song I had chosen to use in my music video, as I was then able to see if I could interpret any of the shots and angles in my own music video. To ensure I had an understanding of the genre I researched into the track sampled in “Our House is Dadless” which is “Our House” by Madness, once seeing how Madness dressed in their music video I then moved onto researching the fashion. However as my chosen song has a genre of Ska and Indie I also researched into the indie fashion styles, I then came to the conclusion I needed to go through my main cast members’ wardrobe which would determine what clothing he should wear during the filming. Also with YouTube I was able to upload every shot I’d taken and also upload my final video once it was complete.

Once I’d picked out the clothing that my cast member should wear I decided as a media student it would be best to use photography and media based websites to show my work. To present the costumes that my cast member would be wearing I posted them to pin board application Pinterest, as I believed this was a better way of showing I am capable of using a wide variety of applications rather than just uploading my images to Blogger, or Prezi. I also uploaded images of the equipment and props I used in my music video. Using Pinterest enabled me to upload images on the go via my iPhone, which meant I could continuously keep up with my work. I knew I wanted to film on the estate that I live on, however I needed to be able to present where I would be filming therefore I decided to take images of the area with my Samsung WB150 and FujiFilm Finepix S1500 and show them through online presentation tool Empressr. During my AS course I made continuous usage of online presentation tool Prezi, so I wanted to now move onto a different presentation platform, Empressr was free and easy to use and I was also able to go back to the presentation to include more images. When researching the fashion, CD covers, and other elements which helped in the making of my music video, I always used Google Chrome as I had a Google account that allowed me to access previously closed tabs on any technological platform once I signed into the account. Therefore when I was researching via my iPhone and iPad I could log into Google account and open up previously closed websites and continue my research.

As I had decided to create a website and digipak for my ancillary texts, I had to be very creative and find a free online web builder. To create the website I used online web maker Wix, which for new users is very easy to use and had free templates to build from; I knew I wouldn’t be able to complete the website instantly therefore using this web building software I could save my work and go back to it another day. As I’d already began my website I had to then think about the digipak, originally I wanted to do a 4 panel digipak but later changed my mind to a 6 panel digipak, as I’d taken numerous photographs therefore I thought I should use them. The digipak templates I used can be found online at Disc Wizards, which was a huge help as I was able to know the exact sizes that I needed for the measurements of the images I’d chosen to use and previously edited. Once I’d decided on the template size I enhanced and brightened some images in iPhoto as I find this software easy to use and simple to do when only needing to do very miniscule edits; I had some fonts in mind that I wanted to use for my digipak therefore I used online editing website PicMonkey and created six drafts of album covers and track lists, finally to decided on the font “Tall Dark and Handsome” as explained in my previous blog posts. Using online technological features has helped me to progress my knowledge further with what the Internet can provide, also it has helped me to understand the usages of these programs for later use. During my AS course I used the basic fonts on Adobe Photoshop for the whole of my music magazine as I hadn’t researched into using different online features such as PicMonkey, however once I researched into different online editing software I became aware of the different tools online which have helped me to progress more I believe in the terms of editing, researching and constructing a media product.

Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premier were used frequently throughout my coursework, being new to Adobe Premier I did struggle to begin with however once I knew I wanted to use direct cuts instead of fancy transitions I became aware of how easy it was to use. Using this technological feature has shown that I am capable of grasping new programmes, I learnt to delete the audio once I’d finished with it otherwise I began to get confused as to why there was extra sound. Whereas due to using Adobe Photoshop throughout my AS course I had a great deal of understanding when it came to the basic tools, I knew which tools I could use correctly and how to edit images in Photoshop if need be. However unlike during my AS course when I used Photoshop continuously, I used the photo editing software to resize images for the ancillary texts; Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premier were only used throughout the construction stages of my A2 Advanced Portfolio.

Similarly to my AS course I have made usage of GoAnimate, an online tool that translates written words into an interactive conversation created online. During my A2 Advanced Portfolio I used GoAnimate to evaluate and discuss the reasons behind the images of the locations I had taken, I found this would have been easier than typing out an essay to explain something that could be listened to and easier to understand. I also used GoAnimate to share my audience feedback, as the people I asked didn’t want to be videoed, therefore this is a great alternative to share the views of others. During my AS course I also used GoAnimate to portray the views of my audience whilst collecting feedback for my music magazine.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Once completing my music video I was then to gather audience feedback on my video and the ancillary texts, this was to determine how effective the combination between the three were. I asked “Do you think the website is believable?” and from my audience responses I found they liked website especially as believed the monochrome theme fitted perfectly due to this being widely associated with ska fashion, also the different pages on the website such as “Tour” and the text box stating there will be photos uploaded soon on the “Gallery” page makes it believable. The feedback I received for my digipak when comparing it to the music video was, my cast member wore a vibrant orange jacket for the front of my digipak which made it look like a 90s hip-hop album cover, but it’s effective as I’m showing a comparison to what my cast member has worn in the video. Similarly to this the different locations in which my video was taken is the image behind the CD tray which a respondent deemed to be “very creative;” personally I believe the combination of my music video and ancillary texts are slightly effective as I am showing a comparison between the three and trying to create a theme, nevertheless I do agree with one of the respondents whom said the front cover of the digipak does look like it should be for a 90s hip-hop album. If I were to do this again I would photograph my cast member wearing the black jacket that is seen throughout the video, as I believe this would have tied in more with the indie genre, rather than creating a different implication to the genre.

What have you learnt from audience feedback?

From analysing my audience feedback I have learnt a great deal; if I were to do this again and pick the same song I would have to think more about the casting and costume, my cast member Tom was slightly awkward when filming outside due to being shy, therefore we had to keep changing the video to fit him. My audience had seen this and made a comment on it, which when trying to produce a music video the cast members should be confident and show they are not afraid of being in front of the camera. His music preference is different to mine, he likes grime, rap and hip-hop therefore his choice of clothing represent that which however contrasted in the music video as the genre was indie/ska. Once again the audience picked up on this slight flaw, although the only item of clothing which received a negative comment was the vibrant orange jacket as this was deemed to be more 90s hip-hop.

Other than the above, I have learnt from my audience feedback if I am going to pick a song written and performed by a band I should have included more cast members rather than picking just one. There were multiple voices in the song track, which is evidently heard and my audience picked up on this as they made a comment about it. Although this isn’t a huge problem, I do believe if I had chosen my cast carefully I could have portrayed the image of a band slightly better than what I did; therefore if I were to do this again I would involve more confident cast members or pick a different song by a solo artist. 

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Having previously analysed my chosen song I was able to see the conventions they used in their music video. My music video is slightly similar as I use similar camera angles and movements, such as close ups, medium shots and tracking shots, nevertheless in terms of editing they have a mixture of long and short shots with some filters used over the shots. However I had chosen to use mainly short clips and cut to the beat of the track without using any features, although their music video gives a vibe of being filmed in the middle of the 90s possibly 95/96 I wanted to change that and ensure people knew it was filmed now, therefore I had chosen to not use any filters. As some indie bands deem themselves to be independent and nothing to do with major record labels, I developed on this theory by shooting some of the music video by hand holding the camera as this reinforces the indie genre, due to being seen in the ‘unprofessional’ manner both filming and in the vocals.

When watching some indie music videos I noticed their form are quite similar, using they have a narrative or abstract form however I challenged this by sticking to the performance form which 54% of the audience said they preferred. However to include some conventions of real products I added some little narrative features such as the mother dancing, cooking bacon and doing the washing just to give the audience a slight feel into the life of the cast member portrayed in the music video. In contrast to this, I developed the form in terms of the ska genre, as many of their music videos are performance with a hint of narrative. By doing this I was able to give a slight imitation to both the indie and ska genre that the song is based upon.

I challenged the conventions of real indie/ska media products by changing the costume, usually the artists in these music videos wouldn’t give a laid back vibe about their clothing there would be some element of ‘dressy’ however to make sure my cast member felt comfortable I left him to wear the clothes he enjoyed. This challenged the conventions of the indie/ska genre as his clothing is usually based around the hip-hop and/or grime genre.

However, during my AS course I didn’t challenge the conventions too much as I wasn’t too sure on whether it would make my music magazine seem too ‘out-there’ therefore I stuck to the conventions of the music magazines, e.g. keeping the barcode on the right, having a big masthead and keeping the main coverlines simple. Also in terms of costume conventions my music magazine had a genre of rock, therefore I used a model who loved the rock genre, dressed in the stereotypical rock way and kept the conventions tailored to that genre.

Media institutions and audiences and audience feedback.

Improvements

If I had the opportunity to improve the music video and ancillary texts I would do many things differently. Under each subheading I will be explaining what I would do different to change my final pieces.

Music Video

If I had the chance to start over with my music video I would change the song to fit my cast member, as he prefers the grime/hip-hop genre, this would then possibly make my music video better as he would be more confident and comfortable with the song. Therefore this would show in my video and it may have been easier for me to film as my cast member (Tom) would have been happier to film to a song he knows, rather than to learn lyrics to a song he disliked. However, if I weren’t able to change my song but was able to change what was in the video I would change the casting to a band rather than a solo artist; having a band would have made things easier possibly as I could have shown them performing with microphones and instruments. Plus as “Our House is Dadless” is by a band it would have been more convenient to film five cast members singing to each part in the song that would be ‘their’ verse.

During the music video my cast member is seen to wear numerous different outfits throughout it, at the time I thought this was a good idea however now looking back I can see that this doesn’t show continuity and looks unprofessional. Therefore if I were able to improve the video I would ensure my cast member wore the same outfit throughout the video, this would then have given the video that look of professionalism.

As I had left filming until a little bit later on it the year due to changing my song and having to change the research, I didn’t have much time to film or edit. Therefore I was left to rush with the filming and editing, however if I had planned properly when and where I was going to film and what I was going to film, I believe with using appropriate time frames and sticking to my plan I would have been able to film in a less stressful manner and have much more time to edit rather than to cram my editing time into a period of three consecutive days.

Planning

To make improvements to my music video I could have done to spend more time planning and researching, therefore I’d have had a specific idea as to what it was I wanted to achieve from my music video and ancillary texts. Whilst planning I would have thought more about the locations I’d filmed in, a lot of the filming is done in my house which is quite small therefore there wasn’t a lot of space to move around is especially when I was filming whilst using the tri-pod. Also due to the time periods whilst I was filming there were some shots that looked Christmassy as it was the Christmas season, whereas in other clips the house is back to normal due to filming when Christmas was over.

When planning my storyboard I only had a very slight idea to what it was that I was hoping to achieve, however to improve this I could have spent more time analysing the lyrics rather than just timing them. With the analysis of the lyrics I would have had a better chance of creating a storyboard I felt proud with and would have possibly stuck this, as I would have had a specific idea of what I wanted and hoped for my video to look like. I believe this would have been a huge improvement to the final music video.

In the audience feedback, the respondents picked up on the different outfits that were worn during the making of the music video. Therefore if I had planned a specific outfit that I wanted my cast member to wear I think this would have added better continuity to the music video, also planning an outfit that would have been tailored to the indie/ska genre may have worked better with the costume conventions.

Digipak

As I had originally planned to create the digipak as a single, I had taken photos relevant to the “Our House is Dadless” track and similar to the music video. However, as I changed my mind about the digipak and decided to create the album “It Was This or Football” I was only able to use the images I had taken for the previous idea of the digipak, nevertheless if I were to improve on this I would have changed my mind earlier and taken photos that where relevant to this album, such as including a football goal just to show some forms of similarity.

On the digipak I have left empty spaces along the sides, as I was unsure on what to put there, however if I were to improve this I would have put both the artists name and album title in these areas for the outside. Nevertheless the white sides on the inside of the digipak could have been filled in with the images either side of them so the images were all touching, making it seem like one long image.

Website

The website was very simple and basic to create, I already liked the template I was using therefore I didn’t have much to change. However looking back I have now come to realise I could have improved it by changing the layout so it wasn’t as bland, I could have done this by adding images which reference the genre of the artist which in this case would be images to do with the genres indie and ska.

Media Institutions

KiD BRiTiSH themselves have broken up due to personal reasons, as I am a fan of their music I noticed the more they jumped around record labels the less albums they published, therefore for my artist “TGC” I have decided he would be signed to XL Recordings. This independent record label was found in 1989, distributing through Beggars Group and doesn’t have a focus on any specific genres, therefore I believe this would be a good record label to sign my artist to as the tracks on the albums varies, some of the tracks are rap, others are ska, and some are indie/reggae.

Audiences want to purchase/download their favourite artists/bands new music all the time, therefore it is best to sign “TGC” to a record label that ensures an average of six album releases per year, worldwide. Which also helps the status of the artist to grow, which in the long run is what an artist wants. Currently XL Recordings are working with:

§  Adele

§  Atoms for Peace

§  Bobby Womack

§  Friendly Fires

§  Basement Jaxx

§  Beck

§  Blue Roses

§  Giggs

§  Gil Scott-Heron

§  The Horrors

§  Jack Penate

§  Jack White

§  Jai Paul

And many more. This is a good sign for “TGC” as he would be involved in record label that deals with both independent and recently major successful artists.

Below I have embedded the audience feedback that I inserted into GoAnimate.

Strengths

Each of the media products I have created has strengths. Below I have explained the strengths under the subheading of which media product I am discussing.

Music Video

Although I am not entirely happy with my music video, I believe there are some strengths within it. Although I was having problems with my cast member, such as him not remembering the lyrics or trying to remember the lyrics, the clips that I have shot and edited together have synced quite well. As I had never used Adobe Premier before until this course, I was able to change the pace of the video when Tom had said the lyrcis either too slow or too fast. Overall I think the editing is the strength in the music video and the natural lighting.

Digipak

Every image within the digipak relates to the track “Our House is Dadless” creating a continuous flow throughout the full piece. I am happy with the outcome of this digipak, as I believe it looks quite professional, the only downside I have to this media product is how it doesn’t really link in with the “It Was This or Football” title. Nevertheless I believe the dullness of the images also represent how a council estate is portrayed, which is what is expected in the digipak.

Website

This is the media product which I am least happy about, however I think for an independent artist this is the type of website that is needed until they progress. I like the idea of using the monochrome theme to fit in with the ska/indie genre I think this reinforces the originality of the genre. Usually ska is associated with black and white i.e. monochrome, therefore using this on my website was definitely a strength.

In contrast to my AS portfolio, which I felt happy about and relived once I’d completed it. I feel I could have put more effort into my A2 portfolio and developed it to a higher standard than what I have done now.  

GoAnimate | Audience Feedback

Instead of typing up my audience feedback I have used GoAnimate to share the responses I received. Below I have embedded two GoAnimate videos.


Audience Feedback 1 by s0013339 on GoAnimate

Animated Presentations

Audience Feedback 2 by s0013339 on GoAnimate

Animation Software

Filming Some More Shot With Tom Card

As Tom and I were going through all the shots and seeing which ones were best to use, we realised we had missed this particular out. Therefore we used an image of a MSN conversation from Google Images and put it full size on my MacBook to make it look like he was online. The image itself isn't in English, however this didn't matter as in the shot the conversation cannot be seen; although the characters within the conversation are from TV show House, once again this didn't matter as the conversation couldn't be seen.

Second Draft for Music Video

I previously uploaded my first draft - here. Below is the second draft to my music video "Our House Is Dadless" the next video I will hopefully be uploading will be the final piece. Currently I am well on the way to finishing the music video, I am now filming the final pieces and pieces which needed to be re-shooted.

Filming Missing Pieces With Tom Card

As Tom and I have been filming different parts of the song each week, when we sat down and ticked off what we had filmed we realised there were parts of the song missed out. Therefore today and in the upcoming week we have been and will be filming these missing pieces, so I can edit everything together once more.

Full Day of Filming With Tom Card

Today Tom and I filmed numerous shots in hope to complete a big section of filming which was missing. Below are the shots which we filmed, including some test shots and the final filmed piece. 

Filming Another Shot

Filming Certain Areas

When I listen to "Our House Is Dadless" I think of a single mum living on a council estate with her children, therefore in some parts of my music video I thought it would be necessary to create verisimilitude by filming the 'rough' areas of Bransholme (the council estate I live on). Therefore I am able to create meaning and affect the audience when they watch my video.

Beginning Pieces to the First 8 Seconds

As the music video has 8 seconds of the sampled track Madness "Our House" I couldn't think of anything to do for it, therefore I decided to set the scene of where I am filming and do a title sequence. Even though I had made a plan - here, it didn't go to plan as I was unable to draw the images how I would have liked. Each time I had attempted to draw them, when scanned into the computer a lot of editing was needed as they were either drawn to light or had smudge marks.

The shot "Another Beginning Shot" will need to be re-shooted as I didn't take my arm out of the frame therefore on the paper it read "Our House is Dadle."

Filming A Part of the Chorus

As my cast member struggles with singing the chorus, I decided to break it up slightly and try a different way of filming the chorus but still including some of my cast member. I will need to re-shoot this as it's quite jittery and dark.

Filming the End of the Chorus

As my cast member couldn't quite get the hang of this part of the chorus, we decided to change the ending to what is viewable in the clip below. It took us three tries to get this far.

Re-Shooting a Previous Shot

The mise-en-scene in a previous shot was too 'girly' to be a males bedroom, therefore I filmed my friend in his own bedroom to ensure the mise-en-scene was exactly right. This is my final shot for this.

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.