Draft Filming Technology

When I did my filming for my draft angles I didn't really use a lot of technology and the whole thing was very basic. 

Camerawise I used an Olympus SP-620UZ and a Panasonic SDR-H40. When it came to uploading the footage the quality of the recording on the Olympus was significantly better than that of the Panasonic. Therefore, when it comes to filming my final project I am going to use LSR cameras rather than camcorders.




Lightwise I used Harmony 1kw Profiles to flood the performance stage in a white light. I liked the wash that they gave and so will consider using these in some way in my piece.









I plan to use at least three cameras when I do my final filming as I will be able to test more angles at once and this will enable me to save time and have more time to test different ideas out. 

Draft Filming

I contacted the theatre last night and they have agreed for me to go during one afternoon next week to film. There is a possibility that I won't be able to use the theatre itself so they have arranged for me to use a back studio if need be. 
The aim of next weeks filming is to test out my different camera shots and angles to see which work and which I will chose for my final video. I will then use this filming to make my draft as I need to get on with making it. 
As well as taking 4-6 filming cameras I'm also taking a camera in order to take photos for my draft digipak and magazine advertisement. It is also an opportunity for me to test out some of the lighting to see which colours work best and add to the atmosphere of the video. 
Once I'd contacted the theatre I then went on to contact my talent as I thought I should use them in the draft so that they have an idea of what I want for my final piece. Three of them are able to make it and so I have arranged for a temporary drummer.

Location

As I want to make a performance video I have decided to use a clear open space like in the Don Broco video as that was my video inspiration.

I have arranged to rent out a local theatre for a few hours as many days as necessary. The stage is flat as the seats are raised which gives the stage a more open feel which is what I'm looking for.

As the theatre has a lighting box it will not be difficult for me to set up my lighting and create the atmosphere that I want onstage.
I chose a theatre as I feel it will be the most effective location for my video. I have everything I need, such as lighting, already there and so I just need to focus on setting up the lighting rig and my cameras.

Camera Shots and Angles

I don't want to just show the whole band or the lead singer throughout my video, I want to incorporate every member as well as showing the whole band as, after all, they are a band and so they work together. Therefore it is only fair that I give them all justice in my video.

The shots I am planning on using are:

• Front view (wide/long shot) of whole band (1 camera)
• Mid-shots singer, guitarist, bassist and drummer (4 cameras)
• Close-up of singer (1 camera)
• Side ons of guitarist and bassist (2 cameras)
• Behind view (white/long shot) - on drum stool, remove drummer for this take (1 camera)
• Behind view (white/long shot) - very back of stage (2 cameras either side)

Overall I will need roughly 5 takes in order to get all of the shots I want to try. Once I have done this I will be able to go through them and edit them and see which shots work best and which I will therefore keep in my video.

Storyboard

I have come up with a storyboard that I would like my music video to follow, but I am aware that I will probably change some of my ideas when it comes to filming and so my storyboard may not be followed 100%.

Verse One:

• start up with long shot of whole band (either front or back view)
• close-up of lead singer
• mid-shot of guitarist

Chorus:

• close-up of lead singer
• wide shot of whole band (either front or back view)
• mid-shot of each band member

Verse Two:

• mid-shot of drummer
• close-up of lead singer
• mid-shot of bassist

Chorus:

• wide-shot of whole band (either front or back view)
• close-up of lead singer
• wide-shot of whole band (either front or back view)

Verse Three:

• close-up of lead singer

Chorus:

• wide-shot of whole band (either front or back view)
• close-up of lead singer
• wide-shot of whole band (either front or back view)

I feel that if I can stick to this storyboard as much as possible I will be able to keep the watchers interest by using different camera shots and angles and showing each member of the band along with the band as a whole.

Ancillary Tasks

Alongside creating my music video I also have to complete two ancillary tasks. The subsidiary tasks are slightly different depending on whether you choose to do a music video or a short film.

As I am doing a music video I have the choice between these three ancillary tasks:

• A website homepage for the band
• A digipak for the album's release
• A magazine advertisement for the digipack

I have chosen:

• A digipak for the album's release
• A magazine advertisement for the digipack

I have chosen these because I was instantly drawn to creating a digipak as I had never heard of one before and I feel it would be a great concept to create. Therefore I have chosen to do the magazine advertisement as well as that links better with creating the digipak than the website would.

Still To Do

Although I've chosen my song and video style I still have a lot to prepare and take into consideration before I can start my filming.

• Decide on a location
• Organise talent
• Sort out equipment - lighting and cameras
• Camera shots and angles
• Decide on mimed or live
• Decide on which ancillary tasks I am going to do
• Health and Safety - location and filming
• Shooting schedule - what and when
• Photo storyboard

Video Idea

Bizarre as this may sound, I was sat at home watching music videos on YouTube to give me ideas for my own when the Apple advert for the new iPhone 5C came up. The bright colours of the new iPhone 5C reminded me of their 2003 advert for their new iPod at the time.



The advert uses black silhouetted figures dancing against a brightly coloured background, holding a white Apple iPod with white Apple headphones in. I was instantly reminded of why the advert had been so successful and iconic. The use of bright colours instantly draws the viewer in as it is such a vast contrast to the black figures. The idea has been reused in various Apple adverts over the years. Although, in more recent years it has been revamped to have coloured silhouettes against a black background and also more realistic silhouettes.



 I feel the use of bright colours gives the advert a really edgy feel and this is the type of effect I want my video to have. Therefore, I am planning on recreating this by using coloured lights in my video, consequently turning my talent into black silhouettes. 

Music Video Directors - Huse Monfaradi

Huse Monfaradi is a British producer who has produced videos for artists including Arctic Monkeys, Snow Patrol and Noah & The Whale.

His infamous video for Eric Prydz Call On Me resulted in him winning The People's Choice Award CADS in 2005 and it was also voted in the Top 50 Videos Of All Time by MTV.

He recorded two acclaimed videos for Arctic Monkeys including I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor in 2005 and Brianstorm in 2007.



His video for I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor was nominated for the Best Rock Video Category CADS in 2006.



Both videos follow a performance layout, which allow the viewer to feel like they are a part of the video itself.

Branding of Music Videos and Arctic Monkeys

In order for a music video to become successful it has to be well branded in a number of different ways.
The majority of videos have a two week lead up period to its release. In these two weeks the band or artist will upload stills from the video to social networking sites, enabling them to be spread around globally before the video is even released. 

When it gets closer to the date they will upload 20-30 second snippets from the video to increase interest. 
Promoters will also pay to have their video advertised underneath other artists videos on sites such as YouTube.

Arctic Monkeys are the Britain's biggest band with 638,791 Twitter followers (29/10/13), and lead singer Alex Turner being worth around £14,000,000.

They are branded and advertised in a variety of different ways, all of which help add to their success. 

They are featured heavily in specialist music magazines such as NME and Q, which fit with Arctic Monkeys indie rock genre and will help advertise them to the public.

This year has seen NME release 3 special collectors edition Arctic Monkeys issues, filled with interviews, posters and general information about the band. Having a whole magazine edition about them brands them incredibly well as afterwards people will be more interested in going and watching their videos, buying their new album and getting into their music more.

In July of this year they headlined Glastonbury festival, one of the biggest achievements for any British band or artist. It instantly increased their fan base, meaning more people will watch their videos and be excited for their new releases.

Finally they make use of interviews. They are interviewed by a variety of channels and shows, including BBC Radio One and BBC One Breakfast. The mix of Radio and TV will appeal to different groups of people and therefore broaden their fan base. They have more interviews in the lead up to a new release which builds up the hype already around it, making it even more exciting for old and new fans.

Research Methods

In order to create a successful music video I need to do some research into what would appeal to my chosen target audience and background research into my genre, branding and directors.
Research is split into two different types; primary and secondary. 

Primary research is research that you do yourself. For example:

• questionnaire
• survey
• interview
• focus group
• phone call
• email
• letter 
• textual analysis

Secondary research is research which you collate from someone else, such as: 

• books
• internet
• search engines
• industry websites
• websites by individuals
• newspapers, magazines
• journals

These can then be split into a further two data groups; quantitative and qualitative. 

Quantitative data is to do with numbers and looking for certain patterns or trends in people's responses. Examples of these are questionnaires or surveys. This type of data tends to use closed questions as it is then easier for the researcher to compare their target audience's answers.

Qualitative data is to do with opinions, words and feelings in people's responses which can be retrieved from methods such as the information you would collect from a focus group. This type of data prefers to use open-ended questions in order to get as much detail as possible within the answers. The researcher can then use the answers in more depth.

Although some of these research methods will be beneficial for me, the rest will be inappropriate for creating a music video. For example, secondary research is going to be the most beneficial for me in terms of finding out about directors and the genre history. Primary research such as questionnaires could be useful in finding out opinions on my video but would not help me in finding out the key information I need to know about my genre. Therefore, secondary research will be the research type I use most frequently.

Chosen Video Style

My chosen video style is performance. This is due to the fact that I find them the most appealing videos to watch as you feel like a part of the action and involved with the song. I feel that a performance video would work best with my chosen song as it is quite an energetic song and so I can make it very attractive to the audience.

My favourite performance video is I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor by Arctic Monkeys. It's simple yet effective and  I'm instantly drawn into it by the energy of the band, something I would like my band to recreate in my own video. The video focuses purely on the music and the artists, which is incredibly significant in a performance video. The constant close-ups of the lead singer ensures that the audience's attention is focused on him and the band's music.



I researched into older performance videos as well to see if I got any ideas of inspiration from them. "Killer Queen" by Queen is performed to an audience but they show up to the cameras for the people watching at home, as they do in Don Broco's video. The use of lights at the event in this video instantly appeals to the watcher as they are bright and so this is definitely something that I want to include in mine.

History of Music Videos

Music Videos came into prominence in the 1980s, when MTV based their format around the medium.
They use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries and abstract film. Some videos blend different styles such as animation and live action. Many interpret images and scenes from the song's lyrics, whilst others take a more thematic approach. Others may just be a filmed version of the song's live performance.
In 1894, sheet music publishers Edward B. Marks and Joe Stern hired electrician George Thomas and various performers to promote sales of their song The Little Lost Child. Series of still images were projected onto a screen simultaneous to live performances.
In 196, The Beatles starred in their first feature film A Hard Day's Night. It was presented as a mock documentary, interspersing comedic and dialogue sequences with musical one. The musical sequences furnished the basic templates on which subsequent music videos were modelled.



IN 1974, Australian TV shows Countdown and Sounds were significant in developed and popularising the music video genre in Australia and other countries, and in establishing the importance of music video clips as a means of promoting emerging acts and new releases. Graham Webb, producer of Sounds approached newsroom staffer Russell Mulcahy and asked him to shoot film footage to accompany popular songs. Using this method they assembled a collection of around 25 clips, leading to Mulcahy becoming a full-time director.

In the late 1970s British show, Top of the Pops began playing music videos. A good video would increase a song's sales as viewers hoped to see it again the following week. In 1975, Queen's promo video for Bohemian Rhapsody, was notable for being entirely shot and edited on videotape.

In 1980, David Bowie scored his first UK number one in nearly a decade due to his video for Ashes to Ashes.

In 1981, American video channel MTV launced, airing Video Killed the Radio Star, beginning an era of 24 hour a day music television. With this new outlet the music video grew to play a central role in popular music marketing. 

The development of relatively inexpensive and easy-to-use video recording and editing equipment, and the development of visual effects created with techniques such as image compositing were two key innovations in the development of the modern music video.

The first video to be banned by MTV was Queen's 1982 hit Body Language. It included thinly veiled homoerotic undertones plus lots of skin and lots of sweat, which was deemed unsuitable for a television audience at the time.  



The BBC banned the Girls on Film video, by Duran Duran, as it featured topless women mud wrestling and other depictions of sexual fetishes.

Fans also tend to make music videos for their favourite songs. They are typically made by synchronizing existing footage from other sources with the song. The first known fan video was created by Kandy Fong in 1975 using still images from Star Trek loaded into a slide carousel and played in conjunction with a song. Fan videos made using videocassette recorders soon followed. Easy distribution over the internet and cheap video-editing software, saw fan videos increase in the late 1990s.  A well-known example of an unofficial video is Danger Mouse's illegal mash-up of the Jay-Z track Encore with music sampled from The Beatles' White Album,  which shows concert footage of The Beatles remixed with footage of Jay-Z and rap dancers.

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Coursework - Music Video

I've chosen to do a music video for my coursework as I've found a song that I want to do a video to. Arctic Monkeys released their new album, AM, this week, which included a faster version of one of my favourite songs R U Mine, and I think it would be perfect to make a video to. It's an upbeat song which is what I wanted as I find their lyrics easier to follow as they don't have an incredibly deep storyline like ballads, meaning I can have a lot more fun creating my video. 

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Now that my song is chosen I need to chose which type of video I want to produce. In order to do this I'm going to look at videos in each category and see which appeals to me the most.

Coursework Ideas

At the moment I'm still no closer to choosing whether I'll create a music video or a short film, but I have come up with some ideas for both.

If I choose to do a short film I am going to do either a horror or a comedy. Neither of them are types of films that I personally watch a lot and this is why I thought it would be a good idea to do one of them. I would be working outside of my comfort zone and pushing myself to do well. However, this could also be a risky move as I would need to do research into conventions and tropes to make sure that I follow and stick to them and don't steer away to another genre unexpectedly. 

I'm being drawn more towards a music video even though I have no ideas for it. I have a very wide taste in music and so finding a song is seemingly impossible! My aim is to try and find one within the next few days and if I can't then I'm going to do a film instead as I can't afford to spend too much time deciding this time round.

Types of Music Video

Music videos fall into many different categories depending on their effect on the audience. However, as with most things, there are 3 most common types:

• Narrative
• Parody
• Performance

Narrative
A narrative video is based around the lyrics of the song, creating a storyline. They are usually used to promote songs that are featured in films, with scenes from the film cutting into the video. It is a good technique for engaging the audience as they feel like a part of an action or can relate to what is going on in the video.

Arctic Monkeys, "When The Sun Goes Down", has a clear storyline which fits with the lyrics of the song and the watcher sympathises for the character.



Another example is Bruno Mars, "It Will Rain". This song was used in the Twilight sound track and some parts of the film are shown through a projector in the video. 

Concept
Concept videos are based around a single idea which is usually unusual and has nothing to do with the song itself. This draws the audience in as it keeps them entertained and they constantly want to know what is going on in the video. However, sometimes concept videos are combined with either performance or narrative as well to widen the demographic that they can appeal to.

OK Go, "This Too Will Pass", works really well as it based around one idea and the audience is instantly attracted to everything that is going on in the video right until the end. It is based around just one idea and is highly memorable.

Performance

Performance videos mainly focus on the artist or band performing on their own or to a crowd. There are three different types of performance video - dance, instrumental and song. They usually include a wide variety of camera shots and angles. The effect this has on the audience is that they feel as though they are there, so it sells the experience to them. Therefore, when the band next has a gig or a tour people will want to buy tickets to see them. It's normally used by rock and indie bands who include lots of fast cutting to fit in with the upbeat tempo.

Mumford & Sons, "I Will Wait" is an example of this. As it is filmed at one of their gigs it will make the watcher feel as though they are there.

Pudding Bowl

For my short film evaluation I watched "Pudding Bowl" by Vanessa Caswill. It's focussed around nine-year-old protagonist, Ivy who is stuck in 50s British suburbia and loses herself in glamorous images of Hollywood magazines. However, her brother's actions result in her mother giving her a traumatic Pudding Bowl haircut and so her imagination takes flight as she refuses to be cut down by misfortune.

Mise-En-Scene

• Ivy's red spotty dress is similar to the dresses the models in her montage are wearing, showing that she wishes she looks like them

Editing

• Fade in
• Clock-wipe transition indicates the passing of time
• Ivy's glasses, the editing used here portrays her poor eyesight

Sound

• Sound Bridge
• Pause between Ivy and her brother's talking which could indicate her naivety
• Piano music when Ivy is in the bedroom which sets a sad tone to the film
• Upbeat guitar music signifies that she is about to cause trouble
• Radio - diegetic sound

Camerawork

• Extreme close-up of Ivy helps to build a relationship with her early on
• Close up when Ivy crumples up her paper which could represent her dreams
• Worm's eve view when Ivy is having her hair cut off to highlight her vulnerability
• Panning Shot of Ivy's magazines and to the sky at the end of the film

Music Video Directors - Spike Jonze

Spike Jonze is an American director who has directed music videos for some of the largest names in the industry over the last 20 years. His work includes "Da Funk" for Daft Punk and most recently "Otis"which features Jay-Z and Kanye West. 












Jonze has many alter egos, including Richard Koufey, the leader of the Torrance Community Dance Group, who is perhaps his most famous. Jonze, in character as Koufey, filmed himself dancing to Fatboy Slim's "Praise You" playing on a boombox in public. He showed the video to Slim who loved it so much he wanted it as "Praise You"'s official video. Jonze assembled a group of dancers who performed "Praise You" outside a Westwood, California movie theatre. The video received awards for Best Direction, Breakthrough and Best Choreography, which Jonze accepted, still in character.

Music Video Directors - Hype Williams

Hype Williams is an American producer who has produced music videos for some of the biggest Hip Hop Stars of the 21st Century. Some of his work includes Kanye West's "Gold Digger" and "California Love" by 2Pac.













Williams used the signature style of a fisheye lense throughout the vast majority of his videos, which distorted the camera view around the central focus. This was used in videos such as Missy Elliot's "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" and Busta Rhymes' "Gimme Some More". However, he chose to drop this in 2003.




Another one of his signature styles involves placing shots in regular widescreen ratio, whilst a second shot is split and placed in the upper and lower bands. Additionally, he frequently utilizes aerial and tracking shots which often move backwards or forwards. This method allows Williams videos to be dynamic, multi-dimensional and atmospheric, as opposed to having static camera angles. "Rock the Boat" by Aaliyah showcases these styles.




In 2003 Williams introduced the combination of a centre camera focus on the artist's body from the torso upward and a solid colour background with a soft different-colour light being show in the centre of the background, which gives the video a sense of illumination of the background by the foreground subject. This is displayed in Kanye West's "Gold Digger".

Research

Now that I have finished my "A Day In The Life Of..." my focus is to research music videos and short films to help me decide which I would rather do. I still have no idea and so I know that my research will be beneficial to me.

A Day In The Life Of Evaluation

In the process of making my one minute video I learnt a lot of new skills and vital information which will play a key part in my final coursework piece.

The most important thing that I learnt was that I need to be organised and give myself as much time as possible. I decided on my idea about a week before the deadline and so it was a mad panic to get all the filming and editing done in time. Allowing myself to repeat this when making my short film or music video would end up in a complete and utter disaster. Therefore I need to brainstorm all of my ideas early on and get them down to my best one very early on. This way I will have plenty of time to make several drafts and refilm any alterations and improvements that I come up with along the way. I'll also have more time to edit in a lot more detail and fine comb my filming to make it to the highest possible standard.

I learnt how to film using a camera which is something I've never done before. I found it quite intimidating at the beginning as I didn't know how to set the camera up or where to position it to get the best shots. I own a tripod so I used that in order to stabilise my camera and steer clear of wobbly hand syndrome whilst filming. I stuck to basic angles and shots for this video but when it comes to my coursework filming I'm going to push myself to experiment to make my filming as unique and interesting as possible. I used a Fujifilm JX500 to do my filming which is not made for taking high quality videos. I'm hoping to use either a Canon or an Olympus when I film my coursework so that my video looks more professional and is to a much higher standard.

To edit my video I used Final Cut Pro which I've never used before and so it was something else that I learnt how to do. It more straight forward than I was expecting but my editing was pretty basic for my video as I was getting to grips with the programme. I'm definitely going to try out some of the more interesting techniques in my coursework so that my video has a different level to it and would be more appealing for the audience to watch. 

Overall I would say that I'm pleased with my video as I got the effect I wanted, especially seeing as I didn't leave myself much time in which to complete it. In order to improve it I would give myself longer to film, use a better camera and be more creative when it comes to editing. I've learnt new skills which will be beneficial when it comes to my coursework and I know what I want to try and test.

A Day in the Life of a Teenage Girl

My Music Video Genre

My chosen song, and therefore video, fits under the Indie Rock Genre. Indie Rock itself appeals to quite a large demographic, although the bands that make up the genre have quite niche audiences. It is a genre that is starting to become more popular as the bands are becoming more "mainstream" and well known, but the bands themselves are unique and tend to go against the traits people associate with musical artists.
Indie rock is a rock music genre that emerged from the independent music underground in the 1980s and had become widely popular by the 1990s. The term referred to a generation of musicians unified by their collective debt to either the musical style, or simply the independent, D.I.Y. ethos of punk rock, which laid the groundwork for indie rock in the late 1970s. Indie rock consists of music that differs greatly in terms of its sound, its social context, and its regional roots. Most indie bands' commercial success was limited in comparison to other genres of rock and pop music at the time, and most acts remained signed to independent labels and received relatively little attention from mainstream radio, television, or newspapers. With the breakthrough of Nirvana and the popularity of the grunge and Britpop movements in the 1990s, indie rock entered the musical mainstream and many indie bands became commercially successful.

Editing

Even though my video only had to be a minute long there was still a lot of editing involved!
To edit my video I used Final Cut Pro, which is a programme I've never used for so it was quite a daunting prospect for me at the beginning.
The first thing I needed to do after uploading my footage and putting it in the right order was to cut it down as it was around 6 minutes long. I left quite long gaps at the beginning and end of my clips so that I could easily get rid of me telling my model to start and stop as well as any camera clicks. The harder part was cutting down some of my clips to make sure that they'd fit! I took around 20 clips of different ideas and in my final video I only used 9 including my fills. In order to cut down my clips I used the "Blade" tool. I placed it where I wanted to cut it and pressed, splitting the clip in two. I could then delete the part of the clip that I didn't need.
I decided to experiment with my video a little bit and so I decided to reverse my dancing section of it so that it played backwards.To do this I clicked on the clip and then to "Reverse Clip", which was a lot easier than I was expecting.  Looking at it there's only a few moments when you can tell that it's been reversed and it adds another element to my video. 
Although it was sunny when I took my video it looked a bit dull and grainy once I'd uploaded it. Therefore I increased it's saturation and midtones to make it brighter and more professional. It took a lot of time to do this however as I had to get the levels just right so that it didn't look overly edited or distorted.
Possibly the hardest part of finishing my video was putting a song over the top. I removed the audio from my clips and chose to use "One Way or Another", the One Direction Cover, as it fits in with the One Direction element at the beginning of my video. However, the song I wanted to use was 2:37 and so it needed cutting down. I uploaded my song and placed it over. I then cut out the middle verses using the blade tool, leaving only the first verse, chorus and the final chorus. I sped up the first verse by fitting it to the clips which led up to the dance, which is almost the climax of my video, so that it could all play but faster than the original version. I then left the chorus at it's normal pace as it fitted perfectly in time with the dance clip, which I  think is more luck than anything else! In order to round my video off I put the final chorus as my model was going back upstairs so that they both finished at the same time which I thought was a good conclusion.

Locations

Now that I've chosen my film idea I need to come up with a location/s.

I've already chosen to stay within a home and so my ideas are:

• Living room
• Conservatory 
• Garden
• Kitchen
• Bedroom
• Hallway

I've chosen to steer clear of places like the bathroom for obvious reasons and as my video only has to be 1 minute long I'll probably only chose 3 locations and stick to them instead of trying to incorporate all of them.

IDEA CHANGE

I decided that my original idea of filming a cat or dog could actually turn out to be pretty difficult as neither my cat or dog will stay still for more than 5 seconds. Therefore, changing my idea would benefit me.
I spend quite a while rethinking my idea and decided on 'A Day in The Life of A Teenage Girl'. As a teenage girl myself it'll be my advantage focussing on this as I'll be able to refer to stereotypical things that a teenage girl would do in their average day.
I've chosen to make comedy based so that it's amusing to the viewer as well as slightly more fun to film. It will also make editing and song choice more interesting if I chose to use them.