Thursday 26 November 2009

Chapter 18 - Filming & It's Complications

After spending two weeks on filming my music video I have now completely finished filming and will begin editing next week. Whilst filming I came across several problems that meant that either changes had to be made to the story board or the settings for certain scenes had to changed. Most of the problems I had were with the mise en scene; outdoor scenes had to be filmed quickly and at the right time as we are coming up up to christmas and day light was minimum.
One of the scenes that was meant to be recorded in the lower light was difficult to film as the camera struggled to make out the three actresses walking towards it and so that shot had to be changed to be a scene walking down the main street.
My main issue was the time of year that I was aiming for. When looking at the story board we find that there are lots of shots that include the sun and so we struggled to get shots with the sun (especially when weather had been extremely bad). The outcome for this was to change the time of year from summer to winter.

Monday 16 November 2009

Chapter 17: Cast

When it came to casting, I found it difficult to get three females that suited the specification precisely and so I had to settle with three girls that were the closest to the spec. Even after narrowing the field down massively, I still struggled to find three girls that fit the spec, until I stumble across three girls who was exactly what I needed for my video.

Sian Scott:


Daisy Kelly-Fletcher:


Tamaryn Smith:


These three girls are currently staying at the Boarding House at Thomas Adams College while they are studying their A- Levels. This tiny bit of information about the girls indicates that these girls are about 17 years of age, this is the precise age that I was wanting. The reason I was wanting my actresses to be this particular age is so my music video would target the younger audience and attracting a larger audience.
When it came to the appearance of the three girls, there were a few complications, as they didn't fit the specification for each of the characters but after spending three days with them, I quickly decided that their individual personalities made up it.
Tamaryn Smith is known to be the more educational one and is always found reading books or doing coursework, while Daisy is the more outgoing one of the three, she is seen running around and always chatting to people. Sian on the other hand is known to be a quiet person but when she is with her closest of friends, she becomes a giggly and funny character. These points alone was the reason why I chose the personality over the looks.
Spending several days with these girls before recording has made me begin to think about certain aspects of my music video. I also began to think of the narrative of my music video and decided that I am going to make my video more of a general view on friendship.

Tuesday 27 October 2009

Chapter 16: Digipak Design - Planning

At the moment, the Temper Trap have three album covers that I will be considering to manipulate into my Digipak design. These album covers are shown below. Each of the albums are very dissimilar to one another and have very distinctive images that portray the style of the band.

I have become very attracted to the first album cover and so what I intend to do is incorporate the pixelated effect and the title and the way it has been presented. As the band are very indie and down to earth I will use a photograph that I have taken that will portray the band and their music. I will be creating a 3 panel digipak that will portray The Temper Trap's individuality.


Chapter 15: Shooting Schedule

Above is a very brief guideline on what I will be aiming for each week. I am hoping that the the filming may only take one week but i have spread it out to two weeks just incase it takes longer to film certain scenes, (as some of my scenes depend on the weather). I aim to edit my music video through the duration of two weeks, ( depending on how long the filming takes, so it may turn out to be three). I will need to have the basic layout of the music video before I add the graphics and special effects. After completing the final music video I will then need to introduce my final designs for the Digipak and the Magazine Advert. Once these are all up the blog I will then evaluate and get feedback from fellow students and teachers from the college before touching up on any other blog entries that may need tweaking. I aim to get this all done by the second week in December and so I am rapidly working towards this aim.



Chapter 14: Risk Assesment





Monday 28 September 2009

Chapter 11: Plans for My Music Video

As you can see below, I have added my basic notes for my Final Video and the plans I have for it. I wanted to keep it as natural and casual looking as possible but have a slight difference using graphics like the ones we see in the Maccabees music video. The shots I am planning on using create a mixture of professional camerawork and amateur camerawork to create contrast and also to support the natural and casual theme to the video. The use of amateur camerawork and deep focus will create a more point of view styled approach.
My basic story line is 'three friends and their weekend'. My video will show the three friends and their casual get together on the weekend and their bond with each other. It wont be very straight forward as I am planning to jump in between locations to make a more abstract theme. I am aiming to make the video like a reel of memories showing different memories in random order as if to be shown in our mind.

The mise en scene for my video will be all over the place, literally. I wanted to add to the casual theme for the video so i will be using locations such as town center, train station, college and 'home'. These type of areas are places that young adults are familiar with and will be able to relate to. A lot of natural light will be used in my video and the colour scheme will be very vibrant. I also want to incorporate some black and white shots to the video also to support sense of a memory or flashback. Some of the black and white shots will have one colour that will stand out while others will just be black and white. The three main characters in the video will have very natural make up and will have a very indie rock style when it comes to clothing. Although the three girls will be slightly dissimilar when it comes to personality, but will each have a bracelet that symbolises their friendship. this will be shown in close ups and the deep focus shots.

All three characters will have three changes of outfits throughout the music video, this may change when it comes to the story board process. For the first character I wanted three very casual outfits to portray a more laid back female who was the more relaxed of the three friends. When it came to looks I wanted to have a long brunette with a slim figure and a natural tan. My aim was to create a naturally pretty girl and to show this by adding the casual clothes to support the natural beauty that isn't bothered about her looks and what other people think.

The second character will be similar to the first but with some slight changes. I also wanted to give this character a more casual look and a very outgoing personality so when it came to the outfits I went for a more skater boyish style yet portraying a more indie look with it. This character would also be slightly tanned and would have naturally blonde hair. This is going to create a huge contrast stereotypically; many blonde hair, blue eyed women are known to be very feminine and girly. In this case, we are going to change it by giving her an Indie rock look and give her a very outgoing and wild personality.

The third character will be the more timid of the three and I am aiming to portray this attitude in through her personality and not through her outfits. The contrast between her outfits and her personality will be refreshing and will support the Indie Rock style as we find that Indie rock always has something new to offer. Her style will be very neutral indie and will be very girly. She wont be as thin as the other two girls but will have the same complexion and her hair will be shoulder length giving her a very innocent look.
I may be changing the outfits along the way depending on the filming conditions but i will stick to the styles and the personalities that I have chosen for each character.

Chapter 10: Letter to Rights Holder

As part of my research I had to come up with the address for the British rights holder of the song Sweet Disposition and write a letter asking permission to use the song. Below, is a copy of the letter that is now on its way to London. Once I receive a reply I will then add a copy below this letter.



Chapter 9: Indie Rock Fashion



When I was evaluating the original music video for Sweet Disposition, I noticed that the bands unique fashion sense was very similar to Indie fashion, yet with their own twist. The use of the hats and the jackets created a very unique indie fashion style and so I wanted to do some slight research on Indie and the fashion that follows with it. As you can see with the images on the right, the style for this genre mainly consists of the following;
  • Large logo'd t-shirts
  • Skinny jeans
  • Checkered shirts
  • Floral patterns
  • Unusually shaped dresses
These are just a few of the many different key parts to Indie fashion. Bright colours and floral patterns are the two main factors of this style.
After looking on several Indie fashion websites i have found two that show just what the style includes. These two online shops show us what Indie fashion really is and what I will be aiming for in my video.
  • www.phixclothing.com
  • www.senseoffashion.com
When it came to research the style of the band I began by looking at images that show the band in different atmospheres to create an overall image of their dress sense. In the first image we see that there are the obvious features of the Indie Rock fashion style; the logo'd t-shirt and the checkered shirt are two of the main aspects of this certain style.
In the second image we find another main aspect of Indie rock style, the bad member on the far left is wearing a logo'd t-shirt and a brightly coloured cardigan. This member alone supports the portrayal of the Indie style. The main singer, who is centered in the center of the shot is wearing a red checkered shirt which also adds to the portrayal of this style also. The other two members of the band that are positioned in the right of the shot are more casual compared to the other two members, yet have their own aspects of the Indie style, the member positioned on the far right is wearing a denim jacket while the member on the center right has the hairstyle aspect of the Indie style.

Many other aspects of this fashion style include hair, make up and accessories. When it comes to hair, the indie generation have very natural and rough looking styles. As we see on the image on the right, this model has very long wavy and slightly messy styled hair. This is a typical hairstyle that we see in the Indie world. Women go for either long hair or extremely short hair. As my video will only have females I only did my research on female fashion in the Indie world. The female on the right is an ideal candidate for one of my characters for the final music video.


Saturday 26 September 2009

Chapter 8: Conclusion of Magazine Advertising Research

One of the main things i have been looking at are the different ways you can advertise an upcoming album release, one of these is through magazines such as NME and Q. After doing extensive research I have come to the conclusion that the most ideal magazine that i would publish my advert would be NME. The reason for this was based on the age of the target audience as it is aimed at my target audience thus creating a stronger reaction from the audience.
If I had chosen to advertise in the magazine Q, I would have chosen to aim for a larger target audience which has its advantages yet there would have been a risk of losing money as it may not appeal to everyone over the age of 25. This was the main reason why I chose the safer option but i would easily advertise in both of the magazines.

When it comes to the layout of the advert itself, I have found that there are several different options;

A4 Size:

Half The Size; 3/4 Of The Size;
After looking at the different layouts, I have decided that to create a larger awareness for the band and the new digipak design, I will design a full A4 advertisement. It will automatically give the public a different understanding of the band and creates a higher response to the advertisement because of the size.

Chapter 7: Magazine Advertisement Research













Magazine advertisement is one of the most popular ways that music artists advertise their music and when it came to doing research for this area in the course, I wanted to think about magazines that would appeal to my target audience and would be seen mainly in the UK as that is where 'The Temper Trap" are most popular.

I came across two very successful and very popular magazines and they are 'NME' and 'Q'. These two magazines are the two most popular magazines in the UK when it comes to music. They both have a number of reviews, interviews, new releases, reissues and new album adverts in every issue.

NME, (also known as the New Musical Express magazine) is a best selling british magazine that has been published since March 1952. It was known to be the first magazine to include a singles chart in it's contents. When it comes to it's target audience, NME magazine focusses on the younger adults aged, 15-25. Known for its exclusive and informative interviews, their independant and unbiased reviews, detailed descriptions of upcoming shows and their quality photography, NME magazine have been very successful throughout the years. Publishing a new issue every week this magazine keeps music lovers up to date ASAP. One of the reasons why I would choose this magazine to advertise my album would be because of its popularity throughout the country and its popularity with my target audience.

Q magazine is very similar to NME magazine with its high energy photos and extensive interviews. Q magazine is known for its compiling lists of songs that are seen in almost every issue. An issue is brought out monthly and so has a alot more information for the upcoming month instead of weekly updates. Q magazine is mostly devoted to interviews with popular artists around the world. Aiming at the older generation, (25+), means that if I decided to advertise this album in this magazine, my music video would be shown to a wider audience, gaining popularity with the older generation as well as the younger generation.

Shown below are examples of different sizes and layouts of these advertisements that I found in the latest Q magazine and the latest NME magazine.


Each advert has there own very unique style and so we are able to associate the different themes with the different genres that they may refer to. For example the New Moon Soundtrack advert has an image from the movie which indicates that this particular album has a range of genres and is more based on the movie and not a genre.

(Source: Wikipedia.com)

Friday 25 September 2009

Chapter 6: Digipaks Research

Digipak is a registered trademark of AGI Media (a MeadWestraco Inc. resource. This patented style of packaging is designed for compact disks and DVDs and less common because of its higher manufacturing costs and decreased resistance to abrasion. This type of packaging has both positive and negative points to it; lets explore these.

PositiveNegative
  • Reduces environmental impact
  • Less resistant to abrasion
  • Less vulnerable to break or smash
  • Tends to show wear quickly
  • Improves functionality by introducing recycled components
  • Disk tray known to be brittle
  • Virtually shatterproof
  • Higher manufacturing costs


As you can see there are an even amount of highs and lows to this type of packaging yet it has several points that can be both a high and low of this product. The fact that the product is made from either paperboard or card can be cheaper so manufacture yet may be seen as tacky and unprofessional. The digipak design was one of the first alternatives to the Jewel Case. The jewel case was first released in 1982 and was the original compact disk case.
The digipak design is made up of 4 to 8 (or more) panels creating singles, albums or box sets. Typical dimensions for these

4 Panel = 139.5mm x 6mm x 125.5mm
6 panel = 142mm x 8mm x 125.5mm
8 panel = 141.2mm x 22mm x 125.5mm




Thursday 24 September 2009

Chapter 5: Target Audience Research

For this type of research I needed to find an official source of this particular song and find the target audience that associated with this song.
was the first thing that came to mind and so after finding the official music video for Sweet Disposition.



Using the map on the above we are able to locate where this particular song is more popular and as we can see the two countries that enjoy this song more than others is Australia and Britain.
I naturally thought that Australia would be one of the countries that found this song very popular seeing as The Temper Trap are originally from Australia. Also, we are able to find that Britain is the one country that enjoy this band more than anywhere in the world.
Using The Temper Trap's official website and their official video on Youtube, i have been able to narrow down the target audience when it comes to age. Out of the 3, 504, 489 members that The Temper Trap currently have on their official Facebook page, 90% of them are between the ages of 16 - 25. I was able to back this information up with the stats that were found on the youtube page which showed that this particular song was more enjoyed by males between the ages of 16 - 26.

Saturday 19 September 2009

Chapter 4: Conclusion of Genre Research

After researching, in great detail, the three music videos I have come to the conclusion that Indie Rock is a style of music that is associated with the younger generation. Showing young adults enjoying normal day to day life creates a very casual and recognised lifestyle and so it is a theme that the younger generations can relate to.
In the Franz Ferdinand video we follow a young adult in his day-to-day routine starting from his home then to the pub then to a house party. All these things are some of the things we associate with the younger generation which supports the relation between this theme and young adults.
The Macabees' music video is a lot different yet still has a strong link to Franz Ferdinand's video in the sense that it is aimed more to the younger generation. Reaching out to a certain stereotyped group of younger adults, the Macabees also out to the load of young adults with their upbeat sound and their unique styled music videos. I felt that the video let the song down slightly, as it is such an upbeat and cheery song. Yet this maybe what the producers aim was, to create a comparison and to portray the band as having to different sides to them yet when combined create a very unusual and unique style. Thus creating individuality for the band.
In the original music video to the song i have chosen, we see a different aspect that is very dissimilar to the other two videos. throughout this video we see the band in a darker light with slow motion shots and blurred out objects to create an abstract atmosphere throughout the video.
The use of the graphics in the Macabees' music video has influenced me and I am seriously considering to use this technique in some of the shots in my video. I also want to incorporate the shot count from Franz Ferdinand's video. The fast shot change that would go with the beat of the music is something i have been thinking of doing.
I will go into a lot more detail once I have finished doing all my research and begun to think about my music video and its contents.

Thursday 17 September 2009

Chapter 3: Genre Research

The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
Link To Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3b9E1p9uOA

Shots:
  • Mid-Shots
  • Close Ups
  • Pan (L to R) and (R to L)
  • Deep Focus
  • Slow Motion Shots
There is one location for this whole music video, as the background for this video was black and so it gave me the impression that the video was filmed in a warehouse with a black screen.


Mise En Scene:
The characters in this video seemed to have their faces in the shadows, this creates a sense of mystery and of unknown territory. Non of the characters are shown in two shots and there aren't any establishing shots of the whole band in one shot. All four characters are shown in either mid shots or close ups and there is a large amount of panning and deep focus.
The colours red and blue stand out increasingly which creates a larger contrast with the dark shadows on the facial area of the characters. The sparkly effect that we see throughout the video are also blue which supports the whole contrast feeling. During the other shots in the movie we see alot of slow motion shots while we watch certain objects falling and smashing on to the floor. Nearing the end of the video we begin to see the same shots but playing in reverse.
Lots of flashing images give us a shot count of 109 and most of these shots are cut in time with the beat of the music which adds to the abnormality of this video. Every aspect of this video is very abnormal compared to other genre related videos.

Franz Ferdinand - Darts Of Pleasure;
Link To Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwVp7OAUygc

Shots:
  • Extreme Close Ups
  • Point of View (From inside the singers mouth)
  • Close Ups (Low Angle)
  • Extreme Close Ups (Crisps on the table, mainly pub scene)
  • Mid-Shots (Side views, in the beginning of the warehouse scene)
  • Long Shots
  • Group Shot
  • Two & Three Shots
Locations:
  • Home (Singers Home/Bathroom)
  • Old Warehouse
  • Local Pub
  • A House Party/Club
  • Local Street

Mise En Scene:

  • (Home Scene)

Outdoors - shabby building, chipped paint on the walls, cold colours creating negative and unwelcoming feeling, wall on the left hand side creating a barrier, grass on the right hand side creates a more welcoming atmosphere. Natural light is shown by the shadows from the trees that we can see to the left of the shot.

Indoors - very basic room, white walls, window on the left hand side giving natural light, cupboard on the right hand side also creating a barrier, messy area around the character

Character - messy hair, which indicates that the character has just woken up, no top on which adds to this indication. Shaved and clean face, which supports the reason why this character is in the bathroom. Also suggests that it is early in the morning. The Natural light throughout the scene suggests that it is set in the early morning.

  • (Street Scene)

Main Shots - buildings on both sides of the shots, which tower over the character, this suggests a city street. Buildings are shabby, old and discoloured. General colour scheme is very dark and negative.

Cars are seen on the right hand side and in the background, much darker atmosphere being portrayed lighter in the center of the screen where the character is placed. People are also scattered around in the background, which supports the suggestion of the scene being a city street.

Character - Casual wear; black t-shirt with blue jeans. Mainly seen in long shots and mid shots. Very little make up if any at all and neatly presented.

  • (Warehouse Scene)

Settings - White painted walls are extremely chipped, green and blue panels stand out massively, door positioned on the left slightly, metal panels and pipes are all over the ceiling and the walls, wooden floors, wires and uncovered fuse boxes are shown throughout. Instruments and speakers are shown to fill the warehouse style location, lots of windows scattered around the room creating a lot of natural light. Graffiti on the walls which adds to the suggestion of the setting of this scene.

Characters - all four characters are wear brightly coloured clothing and their is very natural and untouched creating a neat yet lazy presentation of the characters. the colours of their clothing creates a huge contrast between the characters and the scene they are currently in. The brightly coloured panels also supports this.

  • (Pub Scene)

Location - Blue building, white bold sign showing the name of the pub which adds to the brightness that is being portrayed. bin bags outside the building to the left hand side adds supports the indication of city. Very dark area with not a lot of natural light. Posters on the wall. The characters are in an enclosed area which suggests vulnerability. The table is filled with drinks which is typical for a local pub. Dart board also seen which supports the suggestion of the scene.

Characters - All four characters are shown as dark figures in the corner of the room. They are all wearing darker clothes which also supports the dark figure portrayal. There are lots of close ups and extreme close ups through out this scene involving the eatings and and drinking alcohol.

  • (Club/House Party)

Scene & Characters - the scene is shot mainly through the view from inside the main characters mouth. We begin to see girls and occasionally several guys as they begin to either kiss or force alcohol into the character's mouth. NO natural light in this scene and a small amount of artificial light. Most of the characters that we see in this scene are wearing black or white which supports the presentation of darkness. The one shot that hasn't been filmed from inside the mouth is much brighter with a lot more artificial light. The characters are in much brighter clothes, which suggests the more enjoyable part of the party.

The shot count for this particular video was 210! The whole video is portrayed as a journey for one man. We know this because of the large number of locations that the character goes to, we also feel that this video portrays a sense or normality as it seems as though the character is in a routine that he has known and is used to.

The Maccabees - No Kind Words;

Link To Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5i3-8RWvFA&feature=fvst

Shots:

This video is made up of three shots yet two of these shots are continuous. The first shot is one long shot that contains a two shot which then gradually turns to one character creating a single mid shot. This then quickly changes to a close up of the main character for the video.

Mise En Scene:

The Mise en scene for this particular video is a lot less detailed compared to Franz Ferdinand. As this whole video was made up of two clips the setting is very much the same. The background is black while the characters are dressed in light colours.

The character on the right is wearing a grey coloured long sleeved shirt, his hair is very edgy and blunt. The character on the left hand side is a total contrast compared to the first character. This character has a much more scruffier hairstyle yet wears a white collared shirt. These two characters are in contrast with each other as they both are portraying different personalities. The character on the right has a more controlled and organized personality while the character on the left is more laid back.

Graphics:

Throughout the video we see a wide range of graphics and imagery that is used to create the conversation that the two characters are having. We first see this when the character on the left begins to talk and as he does a blue dotted line begins to create a path between the two characters. This also happens when the character on the left begins to talk yet this time a red dotted line begins to appear from their mouth. As the conversation carries on the lines continue to do roam around in between the two characters.

The conversation begins to heat up as the two characters begin to argue and as this starts the graphics that occur in between the two characters begins to speed up. It also begins to appear as if the graphics are showing you how the conversation is going. It's as if the two coloured lines are in an argument also.

As the camera starts to move to give a single shot the character who is in view begins to flash. As if the background begins to overlap on top of the character. The character flashes in time with the drumbeat.

When we get to the second shot which is the close up a different coloured dotted line begins to overlap on the characters face and begins to create different patterns and designs for the rest of the song and the shot.

The shot count for this particular video was two, which was in total contrast with Franz Ferdinand video. I have gone from one extreme to the other.

What I have found out from analysing these three videos is that this certain genre can be portrayed in several types of 'extreme'. This gives me the impression that Indie can be portrayed to any audience and that it can be taken into account by anyone and understood easily.