SHOOT CANCELLED: SNOW

Our planned shoot has had to be postponed. As the snow disrupted transport in and around Weston, we could not get into college, which has left us without any cameras for the christmas holidays. Following our production schedule, we were meant to begin filming with Joanna on 17th Decemeber 2010. We will try and contact the college to see if they are open in the holidays, in order to access the video cameras. We are going to have to closely monitor the weather, as we found during practise tests that it is not feasible to film in the snow, as the footage blurs when flakes appear infront of the lense. As our deadline is ever encrouching, we will have to use time efficiently, so if conditions don't improve in the next few weeks we will produce the final digi pack designs and plan our evaluation before filming, although this is hard due to the fact we have no footage to evaluate yet!

Weather for next 5 days:



As we can't completely rely on weather forecasts, we have to consider the implications of shooting in the snow. The HD cameras we will be using have an auto setting, so hopefully the white balance and exposure will be ok.
The pavements might still be slippery so the scene where the artist is walking briskly towards the camera might proove tricky. High budget videos have been shot in the snow, and the quality is inevitably good as the cameras can adapt to the conditions well.

Here is a high budget video shot in the snow for the majority of filming. The balance of white colour is excellent.
White Lies - Farewell to the Fairground



White Lies - Farewell To The Fairground


Low Budget video shot in snow:

Production Schedule and Shotlist

Band Stand performance

Close up of Guitar
Extreme close up of Guitar, change in angle.
Mid shot, profile of Joanna
Close up of Guitar
Mid shot, front facing of Joanna
Mid shot, profile Joanna

Tuesday 7th December

Today we went and filmed some practice shots in Grove park. The scenery was very calm and relaxed. The trees still had frost on them, so it looked really pretty. We practised the shots with a lantern, just to see what it would look like, and if we could actually do the idea. Using the camera,we practised shots in the band stand, so that we are prepared for when we film these next week.

Chinese Lantern Idea

After agreeing as a group on this concept, I have tried to find a music video/s which may use this idea to some extent. Here is a video where this idea of lighting up the sky with Chinese lanterns is introduced (at 3:07). Health and Safety precautions would have been set in stone before shooting this scene. Below this video are health and safety instruction I have found from a supplier.

Safety First!!!

• Used properly these lanterns should be safe yet full responsibility is borne by the user of the lantern.
• Unsuitable for use by children under 16 years of age.
• Must not be used under the influence of alcohol.
• Use only in very calm wind conditions.
• Product should not be used when wind speed is above 5mph.
• Must be used over 5 miles from airports.
• Do not use near dry crops or other materials that may catch fire.
• Keep a fire extinguisher or bucket of water nearby.
• If the lanterns paper does catch fire extinguish & discard.
• Only use in open spaces.
• It is safer & easier for two people to launch one lantern at a time.

http://www.chineselanterns.co.uk/chinese-sky-lanterns-safety.html

Camera Tests

Today we used the cameras to test out certain shots & scenes in the video which we thought would be hard to achieve on the day.

We focused on: Continuity of hands

Shallow and Deep focus

Snow weather

Animatic in progress

Unfortunately we couldn't access our blog last lesson, so our animatic is incomplete. However we managed to complete a rough idea of our animatic, we just need to add the last pictures from our storyboard to the animatic.

Skills Development Task

For the past 2 lessons we have been evaluating the skills we have gained from AS - A2. We made pictures using postit noes & used final cut pro to create an animatic. Using the voiceover tool in final cut we recored us speaking about our skills.

Research Relating to Final Ideas

Narrative quick cuts flash back



We have only just discovered this video. One of our peers mentioned that they had watched it and it instantly reminded them of our concept. For example they have used the quick cuts edited on the software to show the passing of time. Also they use a shot where the girl changes into a different girl which was one of our main ideas. This has enabled us to see the idea on a proffesional scale as it would have been a high budgeted video. I am trying to find a clip showing how they made the video but so far have been unsuccessful.



Walking towards camera

This idea was influenced by Avril Lavignes I'm With You Video, directed by David LaChapelle. The video is of Avril walking towards the camera .Most of the video is in slow motion, however Lavigne's mouth movements are in sync with the song's vocals. This was done by recording the footage while the song was played twice the speed. We could attempt this, however will make sure we record it in normal speed too, incase the outcome is not effective.




We want to try different camera techniques, particularly depth of field, when the emphasis is on the guitar and Joanna's musical abilities. After watching Amy mcdonald's video (posted earlier on in our research) we were inspired by the different camera techniques used to film the guitar in an interesting way. We acted upon this idea last lesson and experimented around with the cameras we will be using, as they are new to the college. With the help of our teacher we managed to find a tool on the camera that allows you to blur a specific point on the focal for a fraction of time. In order to make it last we will have to film both shots (joanna and guitar and boy and girl sat on bench) then overlap on final cut pro.
The video below uses depth of field throughout.

We have remained in contact with Joanna Via My space and Facebook. Now we have finalised our ideas to the extent we can start planning a production schedule, we thought it was of importance that Joanna understands our plans incase her viewpoint doesn't match our own. (In which case we would have to re draft storyboards and have to change props) We are aware that this continuess share of ideas from director to artist would be found in the proffesional music video industry, as established artists are vary aware of their image and how audiences perseeve them. We need to make sure Joanna is completely satisfied and aware of what we require from her on set, before we can go any futher.

Here is her response via Myspace Mail

RE: Music video ideas

Upload

• joannaacoustic

  
  

  
  Oct 24, 2010

  RE: Music video ideas.

  Joanna says

  
  

  Yeah that sounds like a really good idea :D That'd be really cool. Well if you want to do it in college time i'm free monday 12.15 onwards wednesdays 12.15 onwards and thursday like after 2 or something and i always have fridays off :) and weekends are fine just let me know like a week or two before. my number is 07833438087 just give me a call or a text when you want to do it, but any of those times would be fine:
  

KatrinaRose

• Oct 19, 2010

  Hey Joanna,

  Just letting you know what are initial ideas are and would like your input.

  We wanted to have you at Grove Park in the band stand singing with your guitar, as its meant to be a promo video we will need a lot of the emphasis to be on you through out the video.

  The main idea for our narrative is you watching the guy you like with his girlfriend.

  Please let us know when your free and what you think of the concept of the video.

  
  

  Katrina.
  

Location Continued...

Here is a photo I have taken which will be where we are filming our night scene as Joanna is walking towards the camera. This road is outside Grove Park which makes it practical as we won't have to worry about getting to and fro different locations. This road is normally quite quiet as far as traffic is concerned, therefore we shouldn't have too many problems filming Joanna walking down the road, however we must make sure it is safe before filming this scene. Although the actual road is quiet during the evening, bars and other businesses are normally open, which we hope will give the scene a bit of an edgy feel.

Equipment...

After analysing our draft storyboard we have realised that the shots are becoming a little monotonous and feel that we should include more variety. We have discovered a tripod which will allow us to be more diverse when it comes to camera angles. The 'Flexible Tripod' pictured below has flexible joints that can rotate 360 degrees which means it has the ability to wrap round poles and branches. The band stand in Grove Park has pillars attached to the roof, therefore it should be possible to be able to have a high angle shot of Joanna whilst she is sat on the steps playing the guitar.
These are the types of shots we could achieve through using the flexibile tri pod.

We used the 360 degree camera track idea in our draft storyboard. We liked the idea therefore we decided to include it, however we were having difficulties trying to think of a suitable method that will allow us to do this without any major jolts of the camera. Initially We thought of using a bike and somehow attaching the camera to the bike as we guide it around Joanna singing on the bandstand. Since this idea we have discovered the flexible tri pod. We should be able to attach it to the front of the bike. We need to do a preparation and practise run for this method of filming. We are also going to explore the more advanced features of final cut pro to see anything else that can contribute to a less jolty image.

Casting

Joanna will be playing herself throughout, as she knows the songs

we think it will be better for her to be in it, and this will be more effective for our video as we don't have to teach anyone the lip syncing.

Boy & Girl will be played by Emily & her boyfriend, because Emily knows whats going on, and what's required of her.

Props

For our music video we need some props such as:

1. Rose: Were thinking about using a flower in our video, as we want a shot of the boy giving his new girlfriend some sort of flower.
2. Tripod: By using the tripod, we are able to film in interesting ways, which we would be unable to achieve without it.
3. Sky Lantern: In one of our shots were going to have sky lanterns going off in the air, and Joanna looking up and seeing them.
4. Clothes: General use of different seasonal wear.
5. Guitar: Joanna's guitar will be featured throughout.
6. Torch: This will give us more light in our night time scenes.
7. Ipod: We will use this to play the music out loud.
8. Bike: Will able us to follow Joanne & attach the camera, to create a steady shot.

Location

Reasons behind our decisions...

Grove Park:

• The band stand provides a realistic place for her to be practising, as the environment is peaceful and this gives her time to think.

• It provides a good frame as the park will not be very busy when we have scheduled to film

• It's a nice place for a couple to walk through, due to the trees, plant beds etc.

• The jill dandow gardens in the park will provide interesting scenary i.e the wooden frames that hold the plants up.

A long street (town)

• The mood of the song changes at a certain point into more of a aggressive tone, therefore we wanted to reflect the change of emotion through the scenary.
• We want to use a long shot so we have a clear view of her body language (striding forwards to the camera and keeping strong eye contact.)
• The urban feel is a strong contrast to the natural settings of the park and shooting at night will mean the sky will form as a pathetic fallacy for Joanna's mood.

Latest ideas for our album cover + Mid Project Evaluation

Todays lesson we have continued with the development of our album cover. Also we have evaluated our work so far in accordance with the questions given to us, which enable us to see our progress so far.

We were thinking that our album has to have a name, so our plan is to have the name of the album as one of her other songs. Our choices are; The way i see it, Dear Friend & Homemade meals and fairy lights. All these titles would be good for the album because they relate to Joanna and reflect her as an artist and songwriter.

Here is an example of our front cover:

We experimented with different pictures and fonts on photoshop. We decided that this picture related to the song title "the way i see it" as she is staring up at the sky (camera). There is a subtle use of mise en scene in this photo, the few disks scattered on the grass allows the audience to see that the girl is an artist. The disks, top and jewelry all compliment each other because of the silver and the light reflection off of them. The cushion brings bright colours into the shot, its also quirky.

If the text wasn't on the picture you wouldn't really understand the concept behind it and the audience would come up with their own connotations of the picture. "the way i see it" sums up the picture because she's looking at the camera and its very intense.

We also put her initials in to the shot as its a promo album so its important for people to recognize her style.


Mid Project Evaluation

1) How does your media product use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of real media products?

Our media product uses many conventions that are typical of an acoustic artist. Joanna's image is typical of a female acoustic artist...clean and fresh. However the lyrics of the song we have chosen aren't angelic but more about releasing her inner thoughts about the boy, some positive some negative, constantly conflicting ideas. We have made sure there are plenty of close up shots so we can clearly see her changes of emotion, which are typical of an acoustic artist's video. These changes in emotion are also shown through her body language i.e striding towards the camera shows her feisty, authoritative traits, however as she sits on the bandstand and plays the guitar it shows she is reflecting on her emotions quietly through doing what she is passionate about (playing guitar and singing.) Acoustic artists like Joanna normally include their instrument in commercial videos to show their raw talent so we though it was important to include this.
We also use a narrative alongside the main focus that is Joanna. Acoustic music is very minimum so to engage audiences, artists that are of this genre normally include a story line that relates to their lyrics, so we as viewers can understand how she is feeling through this medium. The narrative of a couple will be intertwined at different intervals so we balance Joannas talents and the story, which is typical of this style of video.

2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?


3)What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

4)How have you used new media technologies?

Record Label

STARRY EYED: Minor record label.

This is our logo for our minor record label, Starry Eyed. We produced this logo because it linked to the name of the record label, we thought the record label name was quirky and wanted something rather unique to present our artist. We got the picture from google by searching for "eyes" and "stars" and merging the two picture together. The stars were cut into a small circle using photoshop and placed as the pupil of the eye. Using certain tools in photoshop we were able to blend the edges of the picture to get the end result.

RECK RECORDS: Major record label.

Reck Records is our major record label, we created the title by using the initials of ever person in the groups first name E.g. K-atrina, R-osie. By using dafont we were able to choose from a wide range of fonts and illustrations. We thought the font we used was bold and eye catching which is what we wanted to portray about the record label. We thought it was a clever idea to put the record instead of the letter O in RECORDs, its different and makes the record label look more individualistic. Another idea was to add colour into the logo to make it look more alive.

Image I have created for Boy and Girl

I have been trying to find a way I could choose the clothes I wanted and put them onto a model in a easy way. I considered just finding clothes of my own and seeing what would go well together, however I found a useful website which has allowed me to create styles myself on a blank canvas, using clothes from the highstreet. I found the Fashion Studio application on www.hm.com.

Style for Joanna

Style for Boy

Costume: Similar artist and ideas for boy

Lissie
Lissie is a Callifornian native artist. Her music has a certain vunerability to it, however it is very easy and relaxing to listen to. Her style is very plain but beautiful. She wears a limited amount of make up and no gimmiks. What you see is what you get. This suites the chilled laid back acoustic sounds of her album titled 'Catching a Tiger'. Her music is very similar to Joannas music, however maybe a little more uplifting and upbeat. So maybe her style could influence how we decide to use costume.

As we are using a Male character in our narrative, we need to also consider how he is potrayed by the audience. The artist John Mayer has a style which I can imagine to be suitable for the character we are going to use as the boy Joanna lusts after.

John Mayer

John Mayer is also an american singer/song writer. He works a very casual look, which would be suitable for the boy we are going to use. Mayer quotes " I wear things that look like I just threw stuff on, but it’s the best version." We need the boy to look stylish and worthy of Joanna's attention. However if we dressed him too over the top it would take the focus off our artist and her talent.

Mis en Scene: Costume

Costume is an important factor when it comes to mis en scene in the video. The way an artist dresses is always in accordance to the target audience and vice versa; the target audience will have their favourite artists as style icons.

I have looked at various artists men and women of all genres and eeras and how they dress complying with target audience, the style of their audience and what image they would like to create.

Florence Welch

Florence the frontwoman to Florence and the Machine, was originally an art student. This is visible in the way she styles herself on stage and off. Her bohemiam outlook/free spirit is well potrayed in the clothes that she wears. For example in the video for Rabbit Heart she wears a white floaty dress with hair pieces. With the eccentric folk-art style to her music this image keeps in fit with her overall persona. The combination of her creative personality and unusual fashion with the sound of her music is why the visuals in all of her videos work so well.

Lady GaGa

Lady Gaga is renowned for over extravagent style. The american recording artists' unique dress code is what makes her stand out from other pop artists. She most famously wore a dress made out of raw meat to a recent awards ceromony. The costumes she wears in her videos are always suited to the video, no matter how eccentric they are. Without her reputation for a bizare yet individual style she may not have such a strong identity as a musician.

Pharrell Williams

When we used to think of Hip-hop music it immediatel had connotations of baggy white t-shirts, 'bling' and baggy jeans. However the fashion in this style of music has changed considerably due to artists such as Pharrell, Kanye West, Kid Cudi and Jay Z. Pharrell Williams has flair and creativity with his outfits – mixing bold colours, patterns and using key accessories like scarves, sunglasses and watches to really stand out. These bold fashion statements get him noticed as an artist. His listeners want to dress like him and therefore inspired by every costume he wears in his videos. He even has his own clothing line named 'Billionaire Boys Club'.

Karen O. (YEAH YEAH YEAHS)

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an american indie band from New York, who have been recording since 2000. I really like the way her clothes reflect her quirky and rebellious character and are suited to the music she creates.Her stage clothes never really differ from what she wears everyday which shows that her personality on stage is the same as who she is in real life.

Final ideas for logos!

We have decided to call our minor label 'starry-eyed' because its very quirky and different like our artist Joanna. Were going to use stars in the pupil of an eye & photoshop this image to give it a real edge.

For our major company, we wanted something that summed up Joannes personality. So we had lots of different ideas like...

We have decided to go with 'Reck Records' We like this because, it's simpl

e and we have used the initials of all our first names. We are going to use a very bold an

d striking font! Here are some examples of what the logo may look like. We've gone onto

DaFont & downloaded some bold fonts we like & have tried them out.

http://www.dafont.com

E.G

...

For the past 2 lessons, me and Rosie have researched into logos for our digipak and magazine adverts. We found that a magazine can look effective whether it has a main focal image or lots of bold, bright and interesting text.

The Gwen Stefani advert shows, a main focus on a picture of her and a crown. This image represents her personality and style. The gold font stands out and relates to her 'gangster/rap' style and qualities.

With this Stone Roses advert, all the writing does the talking. It has feedback from audiences of how they think the album is. It also tells you whats on the album as this is whats being advertised.

We have looked at different ways we can make the most out of digital technology. I (Katrina) have found a useful article in Media Magazine: 'The creativity issue'. The article shows how you can remove the background from an image.

Story Board and Shot List- DRAFT.

Last lesson and todays, Cori and I have concentrated on the shot list and story board. We have gone step by step through the song to create the story board and record how many seconds the shot is and where it places in the storyboard. It took a while to decide where the shots would change in sync with the music but managed to get a good idea of this. We think we have created a good first draft storyboard, however we will have to re draft (and add more shots) as we won't know how long each shot is going to last for exactly until we produce the anamatic. Also we are still thinking up new ideas all the time, therefore these new changes will have to be incorporated into our story board before filming.

Developing Label Logo Ideas

We had the idea of calling our minor company 'starry eyed' & have the word in very dainty writing and just have a graphic of a star. Cori then said how about we get a picture of a eye & incorporate a star inside it! All the group thought this was a really good idea for the logo, so we looked into some images of stars & eyes that we may use in the final logo.

Were not sure whether to use a natural looking eye, or a photoshopped eye.

Here are some images of stars we like.

We are maybe considering using a galaxy in the pupil of the eye. We think this will look very effective & use a more defined star.