Editing

After the filming we began editing and when we began we realised how difficult ahead of us was as we had amassed a vast total of 1 hour and 34 minutes of footage to go through and edit into a mere 3 minute music video. We spent up to 30 hours over three weeks to edit our music video. We probably spent up to ten hours each working on the footage. We approached the job by first of all doing a first assembly, a rough cut of the video and then working and changing shots endlessly to produce several fine cuts which were precisely edited.

We used several different programs to edit our music video and these programs include: Final Cut Pro (Professional Editing Software, used by the movie business), Adobe After Effects (Another piece of Professional Editing Software), and Color (a colour retouching program which allows you to edit the colours in videos or photographs).

We started editing the music video by first logging all of the shots we wished to use so that we could easily find them and input them into the timeline. We used the storyboard to direct us roughly but if there was a shot we like more than the one in the storyboard then we used that one instead. It was quite easy to create the rough cut as the storyboard provided quite a lot of help and kept us organised and focused on what we wanted to accomplish concerning the original idea.

The rough cut was a basic compilation of the shots we wanted to use in the music video. Yet, it wasn’t a complete music video as we needed and wanted to add things to convey certain meanings as well as removing things which conveyed the wrong meaning. Luke helped us with this as he informed us which things were not up to pars and which were. As we heeded his advice we got our fine cut and finished the editing.

As we know Kuleshov stated the 70% of meaning is conveyed visual so it was very important that we considered the shots specifically and carefully to portray the right meaning.

We used several shots the swing as it represents several different things which we are trying to convey to the audience about the artist. For example when we think back to our childhood we usually imagine swinging on the swings as a child, it is a memory of happiness. It could also be seen as a symbol of love as there are some teenagers who have made out while sitting on swings. A swing also represents freedom as it provides artificial flight and makes the individual feel like a bird in the sky. So as the swing represents these three themes we found it logical to involve it often and frequently to build the actresses’ personality as a loving, carefree, happy, individualistic person.

We often used discontinuity editing to jolt and shock the audience into being interested by the music video, yet we also used it to show how the artist is a freethinking person who doesn’t care about the rules as some of the shots are physically impossible to carry out in real life. For example, we have a shot of Lucas walking up a ladder and then Ruby walking down in thanks to editing. This makes the audience feel confused and sees our music video as out of the ordinary, which it should be.

We applied some of Negus’s pop video conventions to our music video so that the audience, like the featuring of the artist, as well as a wide and extensive use of shot types, camera movement and angles just to mention a few we used. Yet, we didn’t use a few of the conventions to keep the audience interested in our music video, as Barthez discusses with his investigation into “plasir” and “jouissance”. One example of this is how we changed the length of certain shots depending on importance as usually shots for a music video would cut on the beat but we even cut without the beat because it made sense with the previous shot considering the performance.

When looking back at the editing process there were occasions when we as a group looked at our footage and thought it a shame that we didn’t explore the jump cut editing to a more interesting level as we could have used it even more to create a more interesting video. We also wished we have more of a band involved in the music video but Lukas did a great job for being all alone with everything the band was meant to do as a group.

Yet, we did say that we created a great piece of work through all that happened on that day and I still believe this to be true, we worked hard and we created a great piece of work.

Shoot Day

As we began the day we ran into problems as our lead actress was in a Maths GCSE exam as well as one of our group members until ten thirty in the morning. However, we dealt with this issue quite efficiently as we began with completing the set and filming a few separate shots of our other performer performing in his morph suit, which would develop the strangeness and ludicrousness of the video.

The set was quite a simple construct consisting of three main elements. The first being an empty room painted in yellow to promote a positive emotional state with two doors on either side of the room to make the room appear, in a sense, like a stage. The doors were used for some the performers to enter from and exit from.

The second element consisted of splashing paint on all of the walls in co-operation with the music video to emphasize the absurdity, craziness and entertaining nature of the main actress, yet as this caused a problem with consistency we made sure that we filmed all the scenes of the room without paint first so that we did not need to deal with these problems later.

The third part of the set dealt with the after-effects layering that we were going to use in post-production. In this we would ‘green-screen’ the actual performance part of the music video to another layer of a pair of cinema sets in front of the action, or, as it will appear to the audience, the cinema screen. This was our entire set design in a very condensed format. We only used mini blonde lighting from the ceiling as it did not convey anything more than we wanted to show from the actual action of the music video and it was simple and easy to use.

At the beginning of the shoot day the work lay mostly on Tessa and me, as Felix was unable to be with us. At this period we both worked hard on finishing the set and shooting a few shots to incorporate in the video at random parts when the main actress was not involved. As Felix and Ruby joined us I began working on playback at first, which involves pressing play on the stereo so that the performer can listen to the music while being filmed. Tessa was on the main camera, which we used to have allow us to use jump cuts inside our music video because of this we could not movie the main camera at all as it would ruin the consistency of the shots. Felix was on the secondary camera taking more interesting and abstract shots to contrast with the normal wide shot of the stationary main camera. We used Sony NX5 cameras with allowed a degree of fluidity with movement with the secondary camera, yet was not the most useful with the stationary camera as it never moved.

As we continued we rotated the work force around stations so at through out the day we all used the cameras and were on playback. However, I used the cameras least but this allowed me to suggest ideas for shots more or to keep check of the main cameras movement on the TV screen it was connected to, to make sure no one had accidentally moved it unintentionally.

Not a lot of things went wrong on our shoot day, which is a good thing of course, but I believe that we may have been able to film a few more interesting and stylistic shots if Ruby and Felix had not been in their Maths exam but even so I cannot complain as we did what needed to be done. However, near the beginning of our shoot somebody had managed to move the stationary camera slightly which caused quite a dispute in our group as it meant we were no longer able to use the some of those shots. But we figured out that we would merely just not use those shots as we could manage without them as we had enough time to film other ones.

One idea that I had come up with to add to the abstract nature of the video was to have a jump cut where a group of random individuals appeared in the room and then disappeared with another direct cut to an empty room, which would, in my mind, work as the stationary camera would not move so it would appear to the audience that the people did just appear and disappear. However, we did not have any people for this shot so Felix, Tessa and I began recruiting people from around the school to take part in the shot. After a quick search of about 5-10 minutes we found around a dozen people to take part. This shot worked as it incorporates the randomness of the performer as well as playing with the audiences’ perspectives’ to keep them involved on a estranged state of mind.

In our music video we also had a trapeze installed into the ceiling of the studio so that our other performer could use it, as he was a trapeze artist. As we began working on it we also came up with the idea of shooting a few shots of Ruby singing on it, which gave us good material to work with but it also gave Felix the idea to take a close up on the cord of the trapeze while tilting the camera upwards slowing as it gave the impression the cord was moving while not actually moving due to the construction of the cord. This shot works incredibly well as it presents a reappearing thematic element of the video as swinging on a swing prompts the audience members to think back to their childhood memories, where they would move to and fro on swings that always made a child happy. This would in turn cause them to think that the actress is trying to be happy which incorporates the main theme of the song as it involves taking away “the pain”. This shot also incorporates the unpredictability of the swing being in the room, which is a representation of the actress and her style of music and personality to the audience members.

After the shoot day we realised that there were a few shots that did not work and could not be inputted into our music video as they were not aesthetically pleasing or did not uphold the conventions of the music video genre we wished to imitate. For example, we had one shot we thought of using in the beginning where the actress would begin to sing while standing in the room, which was filmed in a wide shot. This shot did not work as it lasted for longer than three seconds and did not cause high impact instantly, which are both two common generic conventions of popular music videos described by Keith Negus. Without these two conventions we would lose the attention of the audience in the very beginning of the video, which never bodes well for a music video. However, we replaced this with a shot with one of the actress falling down onto a mattress yet in after effects we edited it so it is rewinding the shot instead of playing it forwards so it appears that she is ‘falling upwards’, which catches the audiences attention instantly as, like one of the viewers of our opening shot pointed out, “that looks really cool”. It was also a well formulated shot as we had the actress perform her dance backwards so we could easily cut the shot with another one quickly and still make it seem natural as the dance being performed backwards played in rewind would make it look normal again.

In conclusion I have to state that I found the shoot day to be quite a success as we ran into a limited amount of problems and managed to produce some good work though other groups might have become anxious about that fact that two of our main members were absent for the first period of the shoot day. In short, it was nothing short of a really good day, were good work was created which had a right amount of creativeness and imagination from our entire group. I am confident that we shall turn this good shoot day into a good music video, which would make the musician proud as it displays her type personality and style quite accurately for the audience to appreciate and identify with.

Call Sheet

The Call Sheet contains everything we need to know about the day of the shoot. If there is anything we need to know at any point at all we will refer back to it and because of this it needs to be done in specific detail so that it contains all the essential information about the pop video. It is very important that the production teams’ details are shown if a member is missing on the day so that we can call them immediately. The Call Sheet includes the following:

Title Page

Contents List Page of the Call Sheet

Production Team Page

Studio Set Plan

Lighting Plan

Props, Wardrobe Page

Schedule For The Day - Times, Places, Shot List

Storyboard Pages

Words Of The Song

Shot List - Order Of The Shooting Page


CALL SHEET
Ta Douleur

16th November 2010-11-02

Production Group:
Felix Klinkhammer 00491726496363
Victor Stromberg
07769790244
Tess Lomas
07721733251
CAST LIST
Ruby Kammer - singer
Alistair Toovey – band member
Lukas Dressler – band member
Oscar Jackson - drummer

STUDIO SET PLAN
Coloured room/theatre with doors either side + cinema seats

LIGHTING PLAN
Warm/vibrant lights. + Projector light in FX.



PROPS AND WARDROBE
Clothes from costume studio at Radnor
Suitcase
Paint
Tool Box
Confetti
Frog
Ladder
Trapezium
Bike
Juggling balls
Cardboard box

SCHEDULE
Monday 15th – 3pm onwards Studio set up
Tuesday 16th – 9-11 Shots of band members
11-1 Studio first layer and performance
1-1.20 – LUNCH
1.20-3.00 – Studio Performance
WORDS OF SONG
Lève toi c'est décidé
laisse moi te remplacer
je vais prendre ta douleur

Doucement sans faire de bruit
comme on réveille la pluie
je vais prendre ta douleur

Elle lutte elle se débat
mais ne résistera pas
je vais bloquer l'ascenseur...
saboter l'interrupteur

Mais c'est qui cette incrustée
cet orage avant l'été
sale chipie de petite soeur ?

Je vais tout lui confisquer
ses fléchettes et son sifflet
j'vais lui donner la fessée...
la virer de la récré

Mais c'est qui cette héritière
qui se baigne qui se terre
dans l'eau tiède de tes reins ?

J'vais la priver de dessert
lui faire mordre la poussière
de tous ceux qui n'ont plus faim...
de tous ceux qui n'ont plus rien

Dites moi que fout la science
à quand ce pont entre nos panses ?
si tu as mal là où t'as peur
tu n'as pas mal là où je pense !

Qu'est-ce-qu?elle veut cette conasse
le beurre ou l'argent du beurre
que tu vives ou que tu meurs ?

Faut qu'elle crève de bonheur
ou qu'elle change de godasses
faut qu'elle croule sous les fleurs
change de couleur...
je vais jouer au docteur

Dites moi que fout la science
à quand ce pont entre nos panses ?
si tu as mal là où t'as peur
tu n'as pas mal là où je chante !
SHOOTING ORDER
CAMERA POS 1(when she’s in the room) – 1,2,3,4,5,11,13,15,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,31,34,36,38,39,44,45,46

CAMERA POS 2(film) – 7,8,9,10,12,14,16,17,29,30,32,33,35,37,(41), 42,(43), 47,48

CAMERA POS 3 (chairs) – 6,18,19,40,41,43

CAMERA POS 4 (towards chairs) – 44,50.

Studio Design and Lighting Design

The reason we need set and lighting designs is so that the designer can use them to see what is needed for our pop video. The set and lighting designs need to be very detailed so that the specific requirements of the pop video are met. This also means that we have an increased chance of making our set look the way we want it to.

We needed to draw the plans in birds eye view so that the designer could easily ‘read’ the plans and map out the specifics for it as easily as possible. Yet, as far as set designs go, our set design is quite simple as our main attraction does not lie within the actual set but more within the performance of the group. We are planning on having a few rows of cinema seats, which are covered in red velvet, as well as a room lying in front of the seats, which is either painted in white, blue or red. The room needs to be quite energetic and bright as to represent the peculiarity of the video as well as to show difference between the darkness of the seats. The room will also have doors on either side of it so that characters can enter and leave the room. This will also give the audience the perspective that the girl is in the same room as the performer. We plan to have no objects entirely stationed in the room as to not detract from the performance of the group. We will also be using a blue screen or a green screen which will be placed between the seats and room because when we need to film the first layer of our three we will be using the blue/green screen and once we are done with the first layer shooting we can easily remove it from the set.

As for the lighting of the set we plan to have a quite bright environment on the stage area but a darker and dimmer area around the seats as to suggest to the audience that the girl is watching a film. Yet, the colours within video will be bright, colourful, rich, lively and vivid in order to suggest excitement, enthusiasm and eagerness from the group. Yet, as to make the audience feel unruffled by the group members we intend to have the lights to create a warm and friendly atmosphere within the lit area. In post-production we intend to put a bright light, using after effects, which is flickering slightly above the camera as if to make it appear to the audience members that a projector is being shone onto the stage, again supporting the idea that a film is being shown to this girl and that the group is not within the same frame that the girl is within. This entire idea will confuse and disorient the audience as it plays with the entire idea of fiction and reality, even if the reality of the video is also fiction.

Storyboard

Storyboards are used to visualise the images that will appear on the screen. You work out the types of shot, the angles, the camera movements, the mise en scene, the colours and shades, anything and everything.

Storyboards are where the real work happens. Storyboards are much cheaper to experiment with, through trying things out rather than messing about on the day of filming. A piece of paper and a pencil and a storyboard artist cost a lot less per day than a million pounds plus that would be spent on a movie.

Pop videos are just the same. You work out all the shots on the storyboard before you even begin to think of filming. You spot the mistakes, things that don’t work and put them right in the storyboard before you film. It is a bit like creating a puzzle or a plan, which you shot to and you put the puzzle together afterwards in the editing.

When working on the storyboard we use the timeline to direct us. When we worked on the timeline we attempted to place as much detail in it as possible so that it would be a lot simpler to draw from the timeline to make the storyboard. The reason for storyboarding is to help us visualise the shot and work out which type of shot to use and why we want to use it, whether tracking and craning will be used and why we would want to use it. All things considered the storyboard is a form of assistance while directing us in the creation of the video and should be considered as a useful tool no matter what.

Considering our main actress needed to perform in every shot in the timeline, it still became very complicated to note down and draw the storyboard as we needed to note down her movement (through the use of arrows) even though we have no real idea if she will actually move there in the day of the shooting. A lot of our camera movement can be considered quite stagnant as we wished have the performance part of the piece to represent certain things. It may be vital to note that our most complex shot is a tracking shot which will finish the pop video.

As I have stated before our piece is using multiple layers on the screen. The first layer being a girl sat watching the performance in front of her as though in a cinema, the second layer is the actual band performing on stage and on screen, and the third layer will be the possible narrative element interwoven into the video. When we created the storyboard we had to take these elements into consideration and as of such the drawings had to represent exactly what layer we were working with in each shot and the action which was meant to take place in it as well.

There were several shots that we had been considering in the timeline that we required a storyboard to see if the shot actually worked. One of these shots was the opening 8 second shot in which we have a wide shot of the singer, in which focus is put on as well as the physical actions she carries out. Along with this we would use jump cuts to support the absurdity of the world in which the artist is performing. This entire shot is clarified by the storyboard and when we finally saw the shot on paper we realised it could be done. There was another issue of whether or not the shot would not capture the audiences attention fast enough and leave them detached and uninterested for the rest of the video. Yet, as the shot is setting the scene as well as including a great deal of physical action and interesting editing we were confident that it would capture the audiences’ attention. Below are the storyboards we used:























One shot that we needed to use the storyboard for was the final shot of the video, in which we tracking is involved. What happens is when the performance is finally finished we track around (we track from right to left which is secure to watch for the audience and not make them feel uncomfortable) the girl watching the performance to show that it is, in fact, the same girl who was singing and performing that is sitting on the chair. This links to the main idea of the entire song where the singer is performing to herself because she is trying to make herself feel better. This shot is shown in the following storyboard piece:


















A main element of our video is the fact that we will be using jump cuts to a fair amount. We wished to use jump cuts as they give the video a fictional and highly absurd feel to it. And as of such it will confuse the audience and will lead them to enjoy watching the absurdity on screen. Below are a few shots where jump cutting was used:

During the storyboard process I watched the following video clips to help me assist in making the storyboards:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-yeI83fN6s

Composition Rules

Composition Rules

Khuleshov stated that 70% of the meaning communicated to the audience in media products was communicated by the use of images, what this means is that media products will use images to convey certain meanings and because of this filmmakers will use a terminology that allows them to communicate certain meanings. This terminology is known as the composition rules of which there are over 200 and in this blog I will deal with a few of these rules.

Shot Sizes:

In life we are able to divide what we see into three basic shots: Longs shots which create first impressions, mid shots which allow you to gain more information) and close-ups which supply the detail. It is essential that professional and amateur video producers understand what shots sizes are and what they communicate.

Mid shots and close-ups, like long shots, are the establishing shots. These are the shots that make up the scene.

In television, the first shot the director usually shoots is the establishing shot as it allows them and everyone else involved to know what is going on. The other shots evolve out of the information given by the establishing shot. It would make sense then that the most common shot is the establishing shot. However, there is a whole range of shots, which give different types of information to the audience. They are:

The extreme long shot (ELS) – this shows scale, distance and geography. Extreme long shots are great at creating an overall atmosphere, although people will be extremely small and barely noticeable. This shot works best if there is an action involved; for example, a plane landing at an airport while travelling towards the camera.

The long shot (LS) – this shot introduces people at full length and creates a sense of place, time and atmosphere; what this means is that it will usually show if the individual is inside or outside, whether it is day or night etc.

The medium long shot (MLS) – the medium long shot is good at showing the character and location. If, for example, the character is moving, e.g. walking, this can be a very useful shot to capture the character and location change.

The mid shot (MS) – here the shot is close enough to see facial expressions of the character yet far away enough to capture the characters body gestures.

The close-up (CU) – this shot is able to capture emotions from the characters and any impact created by a stimulus. This shot is also used to ‘sell’ the ‘stars’ face to the audience. However, the audience member can become uncomfortable if this shot lasts longer than ten seconds.

The big close-up (BCU) – this shot is very similar to that of the close-up and is used for the same reasons.

The extreme close-up (ECU) – is an unusual shot, especially as you don’t often get this close to someone in real life. It is used to shock the viewer. ECUs of objects can bring a new perspective to the story.

Camera Position and Angle

Slanted Angle – A slanted angle shot is used to portray imbalance and instability and is often used in Point-of-View shots.

The Bird’s Eye View – This shot is directed from above and it is a very unnatural and outlandish. It can promote a sense of uneasiness in the audience but the shot does give the audience more status as it makes the character seem insignificant.

High Angle – This is not as elevated as a Bird’s Eye View shot as it is merely above the on-screen action to give the audience a general overview yet the angle still gives status to the audience as the on-screen characters are made to look insignificant. The object of the shot is usually swallowed by its surroundings, often used to suggest a wider object.

Eye Level – Here the camera is positioned as if the audience is viewing the scene and action in real life. So, naturally, the actors will be at eye-level with the audience. This gives them equal status to that of the audience.

Low Angle – Low angle shots increase the height of smaller objects, and as of such makes an actor shot with this angle appear dominant and superior, or even arrogant. Low angle shots also manage to give a sense of speeded motion. The background to a low angle shot tends to be that of scenery or plain sky, which adds to the disorientation of the viewer.

Camera Movements

Pan – With a pan you would scan a scene horizontally. To do this you would place the camera on a tripod, which operates as a stationary axis point while the camera is being turned, usually to follow a moving object that is kept in the middle of the frame.

Track – Here the camera is placed on a fixed track or even a vehicle and moves alongside the action, which is being filmed, which is generally a moving figure or object. The camera will usually be placed on a track when it is used for complicated dolly shots. A dolly shot is a good way of portraying movement or even moving from a long shot to a close-up as it gradually focuses on a particular object/character from the long shot.

Tilt – With a tilt you would scan a scene vertically. Exactly the same as a pan except when you move the camera on its axis point, you do so vertically.

Handheld – The handheld camera technique gives a jerky, ragged effect, which is entirely different from that of the smooth and organised movement of a dolly shot. A handheld shot give a more intimate and close environment.

Crane – A crane shot involves hooking the camera to the crane and filming the action in whatever way the cameraperson wishes to shoot the shot. You could state that a crane shot is like a dolly shot in the air.

Zoom – A zoom lens contains a mechanism that changes the magnification on the image. What this means is if the photographer wishes to they can get a close up on an object when they are far away. A video zoom can change the position of the audience immediately or slowly.

Aerial – An exciting variation of a crane shot, usually taken from a helicopter. This is often used at the beginning of a film, in order to establish setting and movement. A helicopter is like a particularly flexible sort of crane - it can go anywhere, keep up with anything, move in and out of a scene, and convey real drama and exhilaration — so long as you don't need to get too close to your actors or use location sound with the shots.

Lighting

Redhead – A small light, usually between 100 and 200 watt studio lamp used to light from all angles, the beam can be focused and the fixture facilitates a set of barn doors for illuminating certain areas and narrowing down the beam. Gels can be applied to the lamp to change the color of the lighting.

Blonde – A blonde is more or less the same as a Redhead, except it is usually larger and can go up to around 500 watts. Gels can be applied to the lamp to change the color of the lighting, much like a Redhead.

Spot – A spot is focused beam of light on a specific area, it is used to emphasize this area and the reader is meant to draw closer and feel more emotionally attached to the subject.

Rule of Thirds

Naturally the way we read a screen is from left to right at the top of the screen then left to right at the bottom of a screen. This creates four ‘hotspots’ in the frame when we scan a frame. This is why usually when we compose a shot it is good to get your main subject on one of those four hotspots as it would then capture the audiences attention.

Colours

Different colours affect the way we read things. For example red has connotations of anger or love. Therefore if you see the colour red we immediately make those connections. Therefore depending on the message you are trying to send in a scene depends on the colours you may use in wardrobe to reinforce your message.

Timeline

Timeline As part of our development a key step was to create the timeline. This is where we have a five column chart. The first column is the word or music, the second column lists the time that the phrase lasts, and the other columns detail the performance, the narrative or the action.

The timeline tests out whether the image will last for the time that is given to it. With the timeline you begin to think about the images that go with a lyric or a piece of instrumental and it forces you to think whether it will work or not. An example is we had 18 seconds on our singer in the audience of the cinema. This is too long so we knew we needed to either have a close-up, a mid-shot, or a wide shot or we needed other things such as a narrative to keep the audience interested.

Big Pitch

Big pitch

We had to pitch our idea to two teachers and defend it when they raised problems.

The two layer approach will be technically difficult but can be done, they thought.

The key thing will be the casting of the girl, who will be able to act that she is in some pain emotionally and yet be able to sing the song at the same time. The trick of the pop video is that she is the character that is suffering and the singer.

The two teachers that will take the role of executive producers accepted our idea and gave it the green light.

Developing Our Idea

Developing our idea

My group of three each thought of two ideas. We then pitched them to each other and decided that one stood out above all others. This was for the song “Ta Douler”.

Our idea for treating this song was to use multiple layers on the screen. The first layer is a girl sat watching the performance as though in a cinema. The second layer is the actual band performing on stage and on screen. The third layer will be a possible narrative element interwoven.

The song itself is about a girl whose boyfriend has cheated on her, and how she is dealing with the pain. The girl in our cinema is getting over the pain by watching the group singing about pain.

We wanted our group to be sexy but serious, modern as shown on cinema screens but also very ordinary. This is part of Richard Dyer’s theory of stardom which says that to be a star you need to be different and untouchable to ordinary fans, and yet someone they can identify with. We were trying to do just this.

Five Stages of Production

Research and development and the five stages of production

There are five stages of production in making a movie or a pop video. These are:
• Research and development
• Pre-production
• Production or the shoot
• Post-production
• Distribution and exhibition

Research and development involves researching the type of music, the type of band that is around, the target audience, and other pop videos that are the competition. Development is thinking of our idea and developing it with a timeline, storyboard, and ideas for the brand.

Pre-production is getting everything ready including the cast, locations, props, wardrobe, everything that might be needed. Pre-production ends with the creation of a call sheet.

The shoot is the actual filming day or days, while post-production is the editing including any after-effects.

Distribution is when the product is place on television, the web, cinema, DVD sales or even shown in shopping malls on big screens. Exhibition is if you can get your pop video shown in cinemas.

A2 BRIEF - POP VIDEO

The brief

Our brief was to produce the following for a new band or singer, which would launch their career. The aim is to establish the image of the band or singer and their brand.

We have to produce three media products which are:
• A promotional video for use on television, etc.
• A digipack cover for the first album
• A magazine advert for the album and perhaps a major gig.

Permission Letter

HURTWOOD HOUSE

HEADED PAPER

Head of Copyright and Legal Affairs

Virgin Records

553-579 Harrow Road
Kensal House
London
England
W10 4RH

September 30^th 2010

Dear Sir or Madam

We are a group of A Level students working on an A Level project for a qualification in Media Studies. We are writing to request permission to use the following track as part of this project:

Ta Douleur - Camille

With your permission the track would be used as the accompaniment to a short form video that is made purely for assessment purposes and will have no commercial usage. The video will be viewed only by members of the school community and the assessor of the examination board.

The artist and the copyright holder will of course be fully recognised in the pre-production and evaluation material that accompanies the project. We can also include a full copyright notice if required both in the planning material and on the video itself.

Yours sincerely

Victor Stromberg
Hurtwood House School

The structure of the music-industry and how my pop-video fits in

Music can be quite a controversial topic as music can inspire tribalism, as with the Hell’s Angels and Iron Maiden. This is because it defines and often signifies personality and lifestyle elements. Music can very well be the reason you dress, speak and act the way you do. With this in mind all commentators agree that Music and its trends sit at the epicentre of popular culture as music can influence individuals in a global way.

Our pop video is unique in the sense that fits a special niche audience rather than appealing to a mass audience, which is satisfied with a synthetic type of music. Our pop video, as it is French, is aimed at a predominantly French speaking audience, which also enjoys the pop genre. This in itself pushes it away from the synthetic work of people and groups like JLS, Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus. Our pop video intends to communicate the artistic nature of the song rather than procure a mast amount of money. This relates to the dynamic tension of the music industry in which a musician which wishes to be artistic tends to be good yet is rarely likely to be business material and business material tends to never be artistic and chances are that they aren’t even that good at performing. Yet, there are exceptions to this in which a good band or band member of a purely organic nature is picked up by one of the ‘Majors’ in an attempt to mass produce their talent. Synthetic groups or singers tend to be created and/or found for the sole purpose of pleasing mainstream audiences and fitting every single gap in the market to obtain as much income as possible for ‘The Majors’. Were as organic groups merely wish to communicate their art through the medium of music to their audience.

In either case, both the synthetic and organic groups wish to get their music out the correct audience. Synthetic groups would be able to use TV channels, radio stations, Newspapers, Magazines and other advertisements to let the world learn of their existence, which would often be assisted by synergetic connections as the Majors are willing to spend a vast amount of money to allow their groups to earn them more money for them in profit. What this means is that one of the ‘Majors’ e.g. Sony, has branches into different avenues and they use these avenues e.g. films, radio stations, TV channels, magazines etc to advertise that band so that it reaches out to the mass population even if it thereby becomes expensive. However, Majors also own, or license, a string of smaller additional companies in order to reach different kinds of audiences in different kinds of genre. These companies are known as ‘major-independents’ and begin to cover more specific niche audiences rather than appealing to the mass audience.

Yet, with organic bands who are signed with a purely independent company, the advertising of that band would have to been more specific and probably be less broad. We need to sell the song along side with its meaning and we need to sell the brand of the band so that the audience can identify with them because of this we would create a music video in order to promote a single or an album as a music video is much more entertaining as it engages the audience a lot more with the song. With a music video the audience can also see the real meaning of the song.

As for getting the music video out into the world we would have to use other means than that of the Majors and mass producing advertisements to attract the mass audience. We would have to use the current ‘threats’ to music videos to our advantage as it would help promote talent rather than superficiality. We could, for example, allow the song to be downloaded for free and upload the music video onto Youtube.com and as the bands’ fame increases we would have the band go on tour as this would allow them to make real money with out any trouble as the fans would actually be willing to go to concerts to see them perform in real life. We could also have live feeds to the concert and have audience members pay a smaller fee than that of the tickets to watch the concert, e.g. 10 pounds. This would allow fans from around the world to watch the concert and allow the popularity of the band grow exponentially.

The following link is to the media group which is producing our pop video artist: http://www.virgin.com/music/

Audience feedback

Here are some of our audience comments which were posted on our video. The most complemented part of the video seems to be the split screen sequence where the one actor being shown twice in the same shot ends the opening sequence with a dramatic finish. We currently have five out of five stars with over 300 views on our video so it would seem that a lot of people truly enjoyed our thriller

fatboy22222222222222:
Oh my god that was amazing i wonder who could have created such an awesome movie five stars!!!!!!!!

stephaniemareen:
great after effects in the end bit with having the actor twice.

Towelboys23:
LOVED THE MUSIC!!!

schreuderha:
I like the split screen special effect it is very cool, however the fake blood does look a little fake. I do really like this video though.. epic music! well done :)

mutemiss:
I really like this!I love the split screening... very effective.Music is very suitable :)WELL DONE.

Invisioning:
I loved it. The music and split screening… amazing

Drakdoggod:
I am actually shaking in my boots. Love it

Jarheadincorperated:
Wait, is this from a real movie or wat I dont get it. Still liked it. If its real can someone tell me when its coming out.

Maydie:
If I ever get chased by a killer I want that music to play while I run.

Octopussharper:
Oh my god. I loved the split screen with the killer and the dying guy. God that was great.

Pinkgirlsxxx:
that was soooo scary i really liked it... i hope i can sleep tonight...

Evaluation Task Questions: Task 7

From the very get go the thriller sequence was organised, planned, shot, edited and created a lot more seriously than the prelim task. No matter which branch of creation the thriller was a lot more difficult in every task which came with it.
After several weeks of deciding, choosing and planning our thriller idea we still needed to create the storyboard. We did none of this for our prelim task. So not only was this difficult but it was all new to us.

When it came to the thriller we created a more sophisticated visual interpretation of a narrative than the prelim task. We did not have any dialogue in the thriller sequence where as in the prelim we had only the dialogue to tell the story. Storyboarding was very useful as it allowed us to create a rough sketch of how we were going to film our movie without actually taking out a camera and filming. It allowed us to see possibilities which never even existed with the prelim task.

When shooting day came upon us we had a lot more time to try things out and film certain shots. Compared to the prelim we had a lot more freedom. With the prelim task all we were advised to do was take wide shots then medium shots moving onto close shots. In the thriller we used Point of view shots, high angle, and low angle shots, and follow on action shots.

We even had shots which were shot on a different location and then followed up by a shot, shot at another location. In the prelim we had no extra lighting we would have to use the lamps in the room were as in the thriller we had to use the sun light for the natural feel that we wanted. As for sound, which we did not think about either in the prelim, we recorded footsteps in the grass to put on with the killed walking and we used the crunching of dead leaves for the running sequence of the victim.








In post-production we edited our shots together so that we created an intense, high-paced thriller. We had plenty of shots to use, most of them we deleted. In the prelim we barely had enough footage to create the sequence.

We used our point of view shots, for whip-pans from the killer to the victim and vice versa. And we used footage of different parts of the victims’ body to create audience interest by having the shots change from feet running to whole body to arms. Or any other type of variation. With the prelim task we did not even considered having the shots orientated in a way to keep the audience interested but with the thriller we accepted this concept wholeheartedly.
When editing we used Final Cut Pro just like with the prelim task however this time we had to incorporate Soundtrack Pro and After Effects to make the movie. We cut the footage pretty much into short fragments and put them together in a 2 minute opening sequence. With that we also added music which helped build tension and intensity. It provided an aural support for the visual footage and highlighted the action of the sequence.

Evaluation Task Questions: Task 6

Evaluation Task Questions: Task 5

Task 5 How do we attract our audience?

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Evaluation Task Questions: Task 4

Our target audience member would be, most likely, a male between the ages of 15-24. The audience member would probably be in high school or university still. This would mean that they would not, necessarily, have a vast amount of money to spend but would nevertheless have enough to go to the cinema to see our movie or buy the dvd.
The audience member would be the type of person who enjoys vicarious thrills, and chances are that they would be into rock or heavy metal music. This explains why we would have sex appeal within the female characters in the overall movie, as well as music which the viewer would identify with. The reason we have a person killed in the first 3 minutes in the movie is so that we can hook the audience member into the movie and keep them watching until the next vicarious thrill and so on. Our target audience member should also be one who is slight educated so that they can understand the slightly complicated storyline, yet not so intellectual so that they contemplate the probability of the event happening and so on.

Evaluation Task Questions: Task 3

For distribution we might rely on Lionsgate. The reason for is this very simple. Lionsgate is an American distributor which has been known for making films which can be very explicit, sordid, and brutal horror movies. They have distributed such movies like American Psycho, Saw, Alone in the Dark, The Devil’s Rejects, Captivity, and Hostel.
Most of the horror movies Lionsgate has distributed have been very well received, and I believe that having Lionsgate as our distributor would channel the correct message to our audience. Our thriller is meant to be a highly psychological interpretation of the killer in all of us, and Lionsgate have been known for making movies with other messages like this one.
One is American Psycho in which a killer hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.

Evaluation Task Questions: Task 2

In our thriller sequence we have only one actor playing two parts. However, as of such he still does represent two social groups while inferring the message of the movie as a whole. This message would be that there are always two sides to a story and no matter how good or bad a person may seem they could still change without warning. We have the victim, or ‘good’ person, dressed as a normal teenager with a pair of jeans, t-shirt and a pair of white sneakers. The reason for this was to show how average he truly he was, nothing out of the ordinary.

However, as for the killer we had him dressed in a pair of black jeans and a hoodie to link him with the negative and stereotypical views of a hoodie. We all know that hoodies are looked at with an eye of disapproval and as of such we take advantage of the idea that society is very stereotypical with their thinking and will consider anyone in a hoodie as a criminal.

And with that we challenge stereotypical thinking as well as in the end we find out that the average teenager we saw dying was the same person as the vicious killer who was after him.

Evaluation Task Questions: Task 1

Our thriller sequence still has a lot of similarities to conventional opening sequences. We still have opening credits and a credit of the institution which has helped created the sequence. However, we have changed a few things about the opening which makes it different to other opening sequences.
As you can see in the screen grabs we have taken of our thriller, we have separated the titles from the videos. The reason for this is very simple. The titles would have detracted from the thriller sequence and distracted the audience from the action.

This would have reduced tension and pace. And without tension and pace, which we rely heavily on the sequence, would not have been as good.
The black background was used to create a more significant impact on the audience. We had the distributor first on the shot so as to know that the distributor comes first and is most important with the selling of the movie.

If for example we had an actor who was world famous and the movie and distributor were not well known then the actors name would come first in the title sequence. The titles are organised by importance.

Unlike certain movie openings we needed to be quick and separate with our titles. We could not sacrifice tension, pace and impact by adding an over abundance of titles.