Editing Log 1

Today we edited all our clips for the first time. I have no idea how to use the editing machine at all so Shiv took control of that which worked out well as she lined all the clips up and sorted out vaguely where we were going to place our narrative scenes. We also figured out what else we had to do so we need one more performance shot of me in rehearsal clothes and we need some of putting posters up around the school.

Filming Log 2

We filmed for the narrative scenes today of me and Martin rehearsing in the school hall. It only took 30 minutes which was really quick and we managed to get some good footage and shots. We also came up with some ideas while in their to do a over the shoulder shot of us highlighting our lines which we are going to speed up when we edit.

Our Artists Image

Media Image

Filming Log 1

Today was the first day we started to film! We managed to achieve quite a lot in one day. All the studio shots were filmed so we managed to get both the blue and red dress worn. Also had martin for a hour of the afternoon so Shiv shot the narrative of us having a photo shoot together and luckily had Anna who is a photography student near by to pretend to be our photographer. We have 3 main performance footage, two narratives and one mixed where I am singing but also having photo's taken. As we achieved more than we thought we don't need to do any more footage in the studio which is most of our video complete. We are just uploading the footage now and then we're going to edit next lesson if we are able too.

Shot List/Story Board

Link from Shivs.

Costume Analysis

Lenka’s costumes are bright, girly but classy. There is a sophisticated style to her outfits which gives her individualism as a artist. Her hair is also mainly down and curly which shows that it’s not only what our artists wears that defines who she is - it’s the whole image. There are also use of bright colours. Pink and blue seem to be the main ones that are worn. Her make up is very neutral which makes her seem like a ‘natural woman’ which highlights the genre indie. This is different to other genres such as pop as it seems artists are always competing to be the more ‘out there’ artist such as Lady Gaga.

Permission

We had to ask permission from Sony as we was using their song for our music video. It could have been seen as copyright so we had to clarify that we were using it for our coursework and not for a profitable reason.

Lyrics

As we have to have our own interpretation of the lyrics for our music video we have decided to mix the story line of a show and love together. The red highlighted words represent the love theme and the purple represent the show and rehearsals.


I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go, can't do it alone
I've tried and I don't know why


Slow it down, make it stop or else my heart is going to pop
'Cause it's too much, yeah it's a lot to be something I'm not
I'm a fool out of love 'cause I just can't get enough


I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go, can't do it alone
I've tried and I don't know why


I'm just a little girl lost in the moment
I'm so scared but I don't show it
I can't figure it out, it's bringing me down
I know I've got to let it go and just enjoy the show


The sun is hot in the sky just like a giant spotlight
The people follow the signs and synchronize in time
It's a joke nobody knows, they've got a ticket to the show


Yeah, I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go, can't do it alone
I've tried and I don't know why


I'm just a little girl lost in the moment
I'm so scared but I don't show it
I can't figure it out, it's bringing me down
I know I've got to let it go and just enjoy the show
Just enjoy the show

I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go, can't do it alone
I've tried and I don't know why

I'm just a little girl lost in the moment
I'm so scared but I don't show it
I can't figure it out, it's bringing me down
I know I've got to let it go and just enjoy the show
Just enjoy the show, just enjoy the show

I want my money back, I want my money back
I want my money back, just enjoy the show
I want my money back, I want my money back
I want my money back, just enjoy the show

Artist and Single Information

Lenka is a singer/songwriter from Australia, who is 33 years old. She is indie/pop artist most famous for the song 'The Show'. This is the song we have chosen to use in our music video. The song has become famous by being promoted as an itunes free single of the week. It has also been used in tv and film- The Ugly Betty Promo, Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging film and a soundtrack for Old Navy(clothing brand). It was also performed by an actress in a Brad Pitt movie called 'Moneyball'. This has given the song a lot of publicity which has made it become more popular.

http://www.lenkamusic.com/bio

Our Song

Lenka The Show

Audience Feedback on Narrative

I asked the same people who did our audience feedback for their music interests what would their ideas be for the narrative to 'The Show'. I played them the song without the video so that they would have their own interpretation on it. None of them had heard the song so it was quite good as it was fresh ideas. They were all similar so here are the three comments that I thought were explained the best.

It should be quite modern, like the show 'Take Me out'. Maybe someone walks in to a room and then there's loads of girls and the main girl (artist) is thinking she won't ever get picked by the man but in the end she is. Could follow each of their sides to the story.

It should be about a show definitely. Maybe an audition and the preparation for the show so we see the audition, then rehearsals and then at the end we see the show. It should have love incorporated somewhere in to it but how you can do that I don't know.

It should be about a show so the before hand would be good to concentrate on such as rehearsal scenes and photo shoots. You could also do a play that's about love like a well known one. That would go with the bits when she's singing about love. Just incorporate the two together.

Our Decision

We have chosen to do Lenka 'The Show' as our music video as it will be a more realistic video we can create. We can use places such as the studio, main hall and classrooms to film and we will be able to film whenever we want as these are always free to use. I am going to be the main performer so that also cuts a lot of planning down as we don't have to rely on other people. Martin is going to be another performer in the video but he will only be needed for one or two bits of filming so we can just arrange with him when he is available to film. We can also be adventurous with our artists image as it is quite a upbeat song and it fits perfectly in with the indie pop genre.

Ellie Goulding and Lenka Comparison

Ellie Goulding and Lenka Comparison

Audience Conclusion

After speaking to people we have gathered information such as what artists people are in to and why. We also found out why they like certain music videos. We have taken this feedback and our final decision is to choose a song that is by a female (as it will be easy to film as I will be the performer)and we are going to pick a song which we can do a good narrative too in our music video. The two choices we have are Ellie Goulding 'The Writer' or Lenka 'The Show'.

Audience Focus Group

I asked ten people of the ages 17-24 about their music and music video interests. It was a casual conversation that I had with them as I feel the participants are more relaxed and speak more openly when it is informal questionnaire. I chose four of the people's comments as they were all similar and these are the ones we have taken in to consideration for our music video.

'I like artists such as Ellie Goulding Red Light, James Morrison and Beyonce. I listen to these artists because I just like listening to them in my spare time and I can relate to a lot of their songs. In a music video I like it to be memorable so I like strong performances and story lines. I also think the costume and image is a major part of the video as people style themselves on certain artists.’

'Um, my favourite artists at the moment are Florence and the Machine and Ellie Goulding. I like these as they make me feel happy and put me in a good mood. I particulary like music videos that have a good story to them and fancy costumes. A big budget always seems to make a difference with locations, costumes and props.'

' I'm into Coldplay, The Script, Ed Sheeran Kanye West at the moment. The songs they perform have a good beat or something special about them that makes me like them. I like things to be quite simple with a music video such as Ed Sheerans 'A Team' is simple with black and white film and the story relates to the song- this is a must. I don't like videos that have no link to the song, it just puts me off everything about the song.'

' I am definately into the indie rock genre. Kings of Leon, Travis and The Kooks are perfect examples for this genre that I love! I like music that is different to the charts so I dont listen to the same as everyone else. It's all boring and repeated and I just like difference. I watch videos now and then through YouTube and they have to be really quirky videos that have a good story that kinda makes sense but doesn't. I also like videos that have interesting shots and angle but these would usually have to be big budgeted videos.'

Concluded Research

Overall from looking at the genre we have realised that the conventions that are most common are:-

Shot Types
Close up's, mid shot's, long shots are the most common shots used.

Shot Time
The average shot time for indie music videos are 2/3 seconds long.

Narrative/Performance
Most indie genres have more performance shots over narrative. However there is always a story conveyed through the video's narrative shots.

Costume
The costumes usually represent the artist in an individual way. Florence and the Machine is the best example for this. Due to these conventions we are going to have certain items of clothings/accessories that are recognisable features of the artist.

Music Video Research Kate Nash

Kate Nash

Music Video Research Lily Allen

Lily Allen Power Point

Music Video Research Florence and the Machine

Florence and the Machine PowerPoint

Music Video Research

The music video industry is a massive one that is led by music channels, the radio and websites such as http://www.youtube.com/ and ITunes. There are many genres of music such as:

- R&B
- Pop
- Indie
- Indie Rock
- Rock
- Drum and Bass
- Soul
- Country/Western
- Electronic

Depending on the genre of music the videos differ. The genre that most appeals to me due to the different styles is Indie as the videos are 'quirky' and do not always match the song. Pop is another genre that interests me but would be harder to do due to the styles and 'perfection' that is percieved through the way they look, the shots, locations and story lines. We might go for indie pop as this is usually can be created easily with our equipment, time etc. It is also usually a very fun genre to create so can be a fun task that will be memorable and we can do a really good narrative to match the song.

Ideas

We have had several ideas for the indie music video. Some of the artists we have looked at our:

- Ellie Goulding
- Florence and the Machine
- Lily Allen
- Kate Nash
- Jessie J
- Lenka
- Paramore

All of these artists are female (main singers) and this is because one of us would be the leading singer. These artists are all indie or indie pop, which will be an easier video to make.

Short Film Research

Short films are mini films that can be up to 40-45 minutes long. They can be to inform or to entertain.

Moments is four minutes and seventeen second short film that simply shows loads of 'moments' in one go. They use different settings and different people to show what a 'moment' is. For example, a newborn baby, a child flying a kite and someone waking up. Natural lighting is used to go with the scene and a instrumental song plays over the top. Moments is a entertaining short film that makes you think more in to detail about what a moment is.

It could easily be done for a project by getting a topic and basing it all around what people think it is. You can then add people saying the answers at the beginning followed by a series of short clips put together which will then describe the moment. Me and Shiv have discussed about doing a short film and if we were going to do one this is what we would base it on. We would pick an idea such as Love and have a question such as 'what is love?' for people to answer. We could then film them in the studio or other settings showing what they think love is. Such as talking about it, acting it, drawing etc.

Our Group

I have paired up with Shiv who has similar interests for this project-either a short film or a music video. I think we will work well together due to us both having different skills that will help us get on with all the tasks. For example, Shiv has more experience with filming and editing while I have used Photoshop more and don't mind being the performer.

Current Skills

The skills that I have learnt through previous tasks:

Organization

I have learnt to make sure that the organization of the project is clear at the beginning of the task as of many things having to be considered. For example, in the magazine task I had to organize my models so that the days, times, locations etc were all available and free to use. I also had to make sure that I was organized so I made my planner on Toms planner so that I knew when my deadlines were whether they were personal ones or educational ones. 

Technology

Through the tasks I have used mainly Adobe Photoshop CS3 learning and developing my skills in changing imagery, fonts and creating projects such as a magazine cover, contents and double page spread. I also have experience of using different types of equipment such as SLR cameras and digital cameras. I have also learnt how to use a blog for my hand in's and how to use different websites such as slideshare to upload onto it. 

Research

Through previous tasks I have learnt that research is essential before starting a project because you need to know certain things such as information, facts, target audiences and what you are going to achieve at the end of the project. 

Planning

Planning comes after the research and is a vital point before starting the actual task. I have learnt to make sure that my planning is clear and understandable to me and other people so that there is no confusion. I know to plan out what I am going to do, what is it going to look like (draft drawings, story boards) and this will then make it easier for me to communicate with my group and also to keep on track.

 

Group Decision

The decision we have come to as a group is to produce a music video in the genre of indie/indie pop. We thought about doing a short film but after a discussion we realised that it would be harder to produce and would have to have a lot more different shots of locations, actors and ideas. We've chosen our genre indie pop as it will be easy to create with our equipment, costumes, locations and performers. We now need to research into music videos

Introduction

I am a student at John Cabot Academy currently studying A2 Media. This year we have to either create a short film, music video or a film trailer. After viewing some film trailers in class I don't think that I would like to take up that project so I'm either going to create a short film or music video. These are the two I am going to research in to more detail.