Thursday 26 September 2013

Project log 25/09/13

This is my project log for the 25th September 2013:


Transcript:

Today, since I have finished my storyboard, I took it upon myself to start creating a script for my music video. I acknowledged that we don't have to make one, however I felt that my actors would feel a lot more organised with a brief of what they are meant to be doing, and I'm aware I may gain a few more marks for creating this.
However, the program I needed to use to make this script was "Celtx", which I have never used before. So, I asked a teacher to help me with it, and then I got started. I've gotten about half way through with my script so far, and I am pleased with it. The script includes the location, the action being taken with the lyrics for each shot. I now feel a lot more organised.
Tonight I plan on starting my "Influence of Genre" task so that I am finished with my research tasks.

Monday 23 September 2013

Setting research

I went on YouTube and looked up natural settings, such as fields, woods, rivers etc. and found this video. I found this video really helpful as it shows images of the exact kind of settings/scenery I would like in my music video.

Project log 23/09/13

Today, I have completed and uploaded: my proposal, my prop/equipment list and my research on Ellie Goulding. After doing all of this, I took it upon myself to do lots of independant research on the sort of image I want my main protagonist in my music video, Georgina, to have. So, I went on YouTube and looked up things such as natural makeup and autumn outfits. Here are some of the videos I found:







I found these videos really useful as they gave me a lot of ideas on what I want my actress to look like. I will show these videos to her and perhaps even use the natural makeup tutorial video to apply the makeup to my actress' face on the day I'm going to film. I also found a video with the exact idea of settings I want to use in my music video. I created a seperate post with this but I have embedded it below too:




Overall, I found today a really insightful and helpful day, because I have been able to find exact pictures/videos of what I want my music video/actress to look like/use.

Main protagonist's image research

I have been doing quite a bit of research on YouTube recently into the overall image of what I want my main protagonist, Georgina, to have in my music video. Today I have been looking at natural make-up videos, and I found this tutorial the most helpful. I think I will use this tutorial to have a look at when doing my protagonist's makeup so that she has the most natural, effective make-up look.



I also found a video showing outfits girls can wear in the autumn, and this further inspired me on what sort of thing I would like my main actress to wear in my music video.

Proposal


Above is a Word Document of my proposal for my music video, explaining briefly what I want to do and what my aim is, the description of my intentions, the target audience, and similar products.

Prop/equipment list


I researched into possible equipment that I would require for my music video. This included filming equipment, as well as props that would be used in the video itself. Above is a list of equipment/props that I will use for my Music Video Shoot. I will update this as I find new pieces of equipment that I feel I could use in my shoot. I have been updating this list as time goes on to ensure that it is updated as my initial ideas have been changing.

Research on an artist: Ellie Goulding

Above is a presentation I created on research of the artist Ellie Goulding. It includes personal facts about Ellie, how she became famous, her background, her top 10 tracks, and the albums she has brought out. I found doing this task very helpful because it has given me a much clearer insight on the artist that I am actually doing my music video song by, so I feel that I know a lot more about her personally.

Thursday 19 September 2013

Project log 19/09/13


Today I have caught up on loads of my research work. This includes my analysis of digipaks task, my audience research, analysis of a music video, research of equipment and I finished off my storyboard. I now feel a lot more organised and up to date with my work, and as you can see above is a print screen of my progress so far with my work. I these tasks fairly easy to complete, apart from the storyboard which I struggled on just a bit because it is hard to come up with new and unique ideas to attract the audience and maintain their attention.

Analysis of existing Digipaks


This is the analysis I have done on two existing Digipaks: "Loud" by Rihanna, and Ellie Goulding's Digipak. I spoke about how each Digipak is effective and succesful, and I uploaded the document onto Issuu so that it is easy to flick through, then uploaded it here, onto Blogger.

Audience research

Below is a Prezi presentation on my choice of target audience. This contains what I think my primary and secondary audience would be, and just generally what sort of people I think the audience for my music video will be. This presentation helped me because it has made me realise how I need to incorporate my music video into aiming it at my target audience when I make it.



However, after creating this Prezi I took it upon myself to create another presentation on some actual research on my target audience. I went around my sixth form and asked precisely 30 students (all my age, because this is my target audience), 15 females and 15 males, some questions, and made this powerpoint on it. The results are very interesting and have helped me in the process of planning and making my music video a lot. You will find the presentation below:


Further research:

I thought it would be a good idea to actually get some audience research in a video. So, as you can see here, I told my peer Rag'e about the ideas I had for my music video and asked him for some feedback. I filmed him at school doing so.





Transcript:

Hannah: What do you think of my storyboard so far and the ideas that I've created?
Rag'e: from looking at your storyboard and your initial ideas, I like the fact that you've done an idea that all girls can relate to with the five stages of a break-up, like denial, acceptance, her being excited about like dating the guy and then finding out that he's cheated or he's texting someone else. It's something that really represents all teenagers, so I think that's a good idea.
Hannah: Thank you. Do you think there's any improvements I need to make on it?
Rag'e: In terms of improvements I'd say just make sure she knows the lyrics and that the costume's right and that in terms of filming it it's not too hard to interpret, I'd say. Make sure it's something you can achieve in terms of props and stuff like that and it's easy to grab.
Hannah: What sort of costume do you think my main female protagonist should have?
Rag'e: For costume I'd say that if you're going to do the five stages, make them really distinctive and seperate from eachother, so that when she's at the nervous stage she can wear this really glitzy dress, and when she goes into the cheating stage make sure she wears all black. Make them all really purporised and different.
Hannah: Do you think my ideas actually fit with the song?
Rag'e: I like the idea that it's quite ironic with the fact that this is an up-tempo song, the fact that this is such a depressing/sad moment for all teenage girls and teenage boys, so I like the idea that it's ironic and the fact that it's ironic is even better and it works and it's seperate from the original song.
Hannah: Thank you.

Analysis of a music video



This is a powerpoint presenting my analysis of Rihanna's music video "Rude Boy". It introduces Postmodernity and what it is, about Rihanna and how she is postmodern, it shows the music video, then I took screenshots of key points in the music video and pointed out mise-en-scene, camera work and editing, that all exemplify postmodernity, then I explained how the music video imitates others, its pace, Rihanna's role/star image in the video, and an analysis of the lyrics and how they're postmodern.

Research of equipment and editing software



This powerpoint above presents all of my ideas on what equipment I will most likely be using to film and create/edit my music video. This includes practical equipment such as the Canon 550D camera and a tripod, and the editing softwares I will be using such as Photoshop, Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects. Creating this powerpoint has actually really helped me because it has made me feel a lot more organised with what exactly I will be using to make my music video and how they will effect the making of it.

Wednesday 11 September 2013

Storyboard

This is the storyboard I have drawn out for my music video. It explains the shot type, angle, movement, what will happen in the shot and at what specific time/lyric it will happen. In total there are roughly 55 shots in this storyboard. I feel like creating this storyboard has really helped me because it has made me feel organised and up to date with what ideas I am using, and also I can show this storyboard to my actor/actresses and they will know exactly what to do and what is happening. Overall, a very helpful task. 

  *Alterations*

Since producing this storyboard, I have made many changes to the idea of my music video. My music video will still be half narrative, half performance based. The performance part will be my female actress Georgina walking through the woods, the camera following her, and she mimes to the song after having "just been through a break up", finding random props laying on the floor in her path as she goes along. However, these props are actually figures of her imagination, even though the viewers will still be able to see the props. Each time she curiously picks up a prop, it will merge into a flashback of her last relationship. This will happen each time with the props where they link to a "stage" of her relationship since I want to portray the "5 stages of a relationship" through these flashbacks. This will of course be the narrative part of the music video where Matt, my other actor comes into it. Then, each time it will go back to the performance and Georgina will realise that the "prop" in her hand has dissappeared and isn't actually really there, so she will continue her journey in the woods.

Tuesday 10 September 2013

Project log 06/09/13



Transcript:

Today I just plan on continuing on my story board and hopefully I'll finish it. I'm just making sure that there are enough details on each shot so that I can just tell my actors exactly what they're doing just from looking at the storyboard. Hopefully I will finish that by the end of the day, and hopefully I would have finished all of my research tasks too just so that I feel a lot more organised for next week and I can start my filming then. I just want to try and finish the majority of my planning tasks as I can't really begin filming my music video without finishing these. I just want to make sure really now that I am organised enough before the weekend and can begin my music video.

Thursday 5 September 2013

Project log 05/09/13



Transcript:  

Today I just worked on my storyboard up to the first chorus, so really I've just been writing out the setting, props I'll be using and what each shot shows. I'm trying to do it shot-for-shot as I'd rather have too many shots than not enough. I haven't finished my storyboard yet so I plan on continuing on it later on. I've done most of my research but I still need to finish off all of my planning.

Tuesday 3 September 2013

Project log 03/09/13

I have decided to change my song choice for my music video from "Love Story" by Taylor Swift to "Guns and Horses" by Ellie Goulding. This is because I simply feel that Love Story is too much of a "cheesy" song for the actors I am using and the music video may have come across as unnatural and corny. That song choice just didn't feel right for me. So, as last minute as it is, I have decided to pick Guns and Horses because it suits my actors so much more and I actually prefer this song so much more as a whole. However, I understand that changing my mind has many drawbacks as I will need to re-do most of my work; but I am prepared to do this. I have watched the original music video to "Guns and Horses" over and over again, and researched it a bit. I have found the story that Ellie intended to create in the song and I screen-shotted it:


Now that I know Ellie's intended storyline for her song, I am going to develop my own ideas for my music video from here. I am now going to re-do my initial planning ideas, lyric analysis, pitch, feedback, contact with the artist's manager and original lyrics.

Monday 2 September 2013

Analysis of artist's magazine advertisement


This is the advertisement for Delilah's new album "From The Roots Up". This advertisement is presenting new music, the artist's star image and also welcoming new fans to listen to her music. In plain and simple font (and in caps), it says "the album - out now" below her image. The effect of the words "out now" instead of a date represents urgency and simplicity, which is exactly what the audience like. This will raise awareness, offering people the opportunity to listen to her new music. This is a great way for Delilah to be promoted because she is being publicised as new and fresh with positivity all round.  The title to this magazine ad is in plain white, quite large, and in a robotic, modern, "futuristic" sort of font. To me, this font represents the future and new things. So it's very effective because straight away it's almost explaining what Delilah's music is. The colour-coordination of this magazine advertisement is plain black and white, exemplifying modernity, sophistication and simplicity. The audience again will like this as a whole because it portrays no complication, and just a fresh aura about it. The image of Delilah is strange and unique as she is standing to the side, naked, holding her pony-tail above her with her eyes closed. This image is indeed odd but it is different and it represents her star image - a bold, quirky female. The public as a whole find unique things interesting, so there is no doubt about it that this image may be a key feature to what makes this magazine ad successful and effective. Furthermore, this image gives the audience a first impression of what Delilah's music will be like - quirky and different. Music nowadays can sometimes be very consistent and not very different, so the public may be very enticed by this opportunity to listen to something different. Finally, underneath this image is loads of 5 stars in white, each given by different companies/people. These stand out and tell the audience straight away that Delilah's music is "5 star" and high-quality, enticing the public even more so.

From looking at various artists' magazine advertisements, I have found that the most successful ones are the ones with minimal writing, big fonts and one large image of one artist and one artist only. This means that they are bold and they stand out to the audience, giving them more to find out for themselves and use their imagination. If the magazine ads had too much writing and small images everywhere, the ad would look cluttered and complicated, therefore putting the audience off.

What is a Digipak?

Above is a Word document I have completed on the task "What is a Digipak". Here I have included what a Digipak is, its background, the google definition of it, its success, what's inside a Digipak, and an example of a Digipak. This task gave me a bigger insight on Digipaks overall and how my music video would be delivered if it was put in a Digipak. It's interesting to see the reasons why things are made the way they are, and the Digipak is a prime example of this.

Project log 02/09/13

Today, I have finished and uploaded:

  • Music Channels task
  • Music Videos I Admire task
  • Music Video Theory task
  • Tracking An Artist task
  • Music Video Codes and Conventions task
  • What Is A Digipak task
  • Analysis of an Artist's Magazine Advertisement task
I believe I have got quite a lot done today which I am pleased about. However, I still have 9 more research tasks to complete to I may continue working on these this evening in order to get hopefully all of them done by tomorrow. The advantage of having completed all research tasks for tomorrow means that I have more time in lesson tomorrow to begin planning/doing everything I can to go towards my actual music video.

Music channels


 Above is a video presentation I created on Windows Movie Maker about four different music/entertainment channels I researched. I decided to use Windows Movie Maker to do this task because it is a different presentation technique to the ones I have recently used, such as Prezi, Microsoft Word and Powerpoint. It's good to use something different. This video includes details of when each channel was developed, who they are operationalised by, what their main features are, and much more. Creating this video actually really helped me personally, because it has given me more knowledge and more of an insight on music channels and how my video would be broadcasted if it did. Overall, a very insightful task.

Music videos I admire

"Time" - Delilah ft. Chase & Status


The music video to "Time" by Delilah ft Chase & Status is performance and narrative-based and is extremely intense. I find this music video purely inspiring because the majority of it tells a story of the main blonde protagonist girl witnessing her father physically abusing her mother every night, and soon she calls the police on her father, and the audience are almost seeing this all happen through the protagonist's eyes. This creates a personal, emotional bond between the audience and the protagonist, allowing the audience to sympathise with her deeply. The story builds and builds until there is a final climax, and all of this is fully in sync with the music at the same time. For example, when the chorus drops, the shots fasten and the story intensifies. This can help to really keep that interest from the audience at a high level. At the same time as this, there are several shots of Delilah singing to the camera, from an outside perspective. This allows the audience to almost relate to Delilah because she is not in the story, she is outside it, just like the audience themselves. This music video inspires me so much because not only is it successful in its storyline, but it sends out a moral message to stop abuse as it shows the affect it has on teenagers for example (like the main protagonist girl in the music video), and it also makes everyone feel grateful for what they have in life. This is a really brilliant music video to me.

"I'm Lost Without You" - Robin Thicke


This music video is very different in contrast to the first one I talked about because "I'm Lost Without You" is mainly performance-based, with a few shots containing flashbacks of Robin with his "ex". This music video inspires me because it still manages to keep your interest even though it's mainly performance-based. I really like some of the camera shots and angles that are used, even if they are just of his hand plucking at his guitar for example. The mise-en-scene is great because the main colours of the music video are all black, white and some gold, which is very coordinated and it looks very sophisticated and classy. This makes the music video look high-quality. I like the idea of Robin just singing to the camera, because it allows the audience to sympathise with him and relate to him, and the flashbacks just add to the emotions he is feeling about this break up he has had with his ex. Overall, considering this music video is just performance-based and basic, I think it is really impressive and has a great idea to it.

Music video theory: Andrew Goodwin's theory



Above is a prezi I have created on the music video theory I will be using: Andrew Goodwin. Here I have explained all segment's of Andrew Goodwin's theory, how I disagree with some of them and some examples, aswell as how I will be using his theory in my music video. This task really helped me because I now have more knowledge and more of an insight on Andrew Goodwin, and the dynamics of my own music video because I know how I will and will not be using his theory myself.

Tracking an artist: Taylor Swift

Above is a presentation I have created on the tracking of an artist: Taylor Swift. This powerpoint includes everything from personal details about Taylor Swift, to her early life, to the most popular songs she has released, to the most recent media about her. I actually found this task really helpful because it gave me an insight on the actual artist that my song I am using for my music video is sung by. This means I have a lot more knowledge on her.

Music video codes and conventions



Above is the presentation I made on the codes and conventions of music videos. This contains the performance, the narrative, the mise-en-scene and examples, editing, camera angles and sound. I have given examples for all and explained them fully. This task actually really helped me because it developed and refreshed my knowledge/memory on music videos and their codes and conventions, allowing me to feel a lot more confident for my own music video and how I will make it to be very successful.