Filming.

More filming on sunday to re-film lip syncing with the artist. hopefully filming will then be completed and i can focus on the editing process.

Equipment

Hi Jess
Equipment you have booked will be ready. Will it be back on Monday?
Mrs Excell

Equipment

Hi Jess.
Will have things ready for you by lunch. I am going out at 1.30 with the Y12 GCSE so please try and be on time.
Mrs Excell

Updates on filming:

Filming on wednesday went to plan. I got shot what i needed to get, i shot about 20 minutes worth of footage with some good shots and footage that i think i will definitely be able to use. however i am not entirely happy with the quality of the filming and will probably reshoot some of the footage.

Filming on thursday with the artist didn't happen and i have had issues secure a date and time to film with him. Thursday he said he wanted to spend the day with his family so we arranged to film the day after then he said he had 'band practise' so we have now resulted in filming at some point this week. Hopefully that will not fall through.

Styling of Artist and Narrative Characters

Abigial by jessicalilynicholls featuring antik batik

H M flare dress
hm.com

H M flare dress
hm.com

Dorothy Perkins pastel dress
dorothyperkins.com

Sheer top
£27 - modcloth.com

Antik batik
£1,530 - antikbatik.fr

Patrizia Pepe collarless coat
flannelsfashion.com

Whitney Eve floral print shorts
£97 - theiconic.com.au

Dolly Bra Top in Pastel Water Washed
£9.62 - factorie.com.au

H&M high heel pumps
hm.com

Genuine leather handbag
£86 - theiconic.com.au

Aso
£6.00 - asos.com

Risk Assesment

Story Boarding.

Before i went out to film i collected together my idea's in a story board to help me to know what shots i had in mind, when it came to filming.

Filming Schedule.

Wednesday- 31st October:  Spend day filming narrative story with Abi and Alex.

                                                                                   
Thursday 1st November: Filming performance element of song with Connor.

initial idea for music video

My music video will depict the journey a couple take through the deterioration of their relationship finally resulting in the girl leaving her boyfriend. For the couple i will be using my friend Abigail and her boyfriend Alex who will be perfect as they have quite an alternative style and i want to capture a quirky atmosphere within my video.

Some idea's for location i have are broom-fields park where there is a lake and lots of greenery such as forest and field area's as i feel like this kind of environment would suite my track very well. I also plan to use, my friends house as the couples home and also show the couple doing fun actives maybe playing in a kids playground or something that maybe is a little unique for a music video.

i also did have aspirations to use IKEA as a location however, i am yet to know weather that will be possible. i have spoke to IKEA and they have said i have to go in store on the day of filming and see what they say, you it is high risk to use it.

Target Audience

Target audience from jessicailynicholls

Peer feedback for idea's for music video

In class we spent the lesson going around the class sharing and listening to everybody's tracks for their music video's. Whilst doing this we also wrote down idea's and feelings we felt about the music we listened to in order to help inspire the group of who the music belonged to.
Here is a picture of my peer feed back spider diagram:

Booked Equipment

Hi Jess
You may pick up camera and tripod on Friday 26th OCTOBER.
Mrs Excell

Mood Board

Updates: 15/10/12

Over the passed week or so in lessons we have been listening to each others music and brainstorming idea's for our music video's. I have found this really helpful and now have a few solid ideas of settings and camera work i'de like to use and also many idea's for the narrative.

I have also contacted Connor (The main singer of the band who wrote my track) and he has agreed to actually be in the music video which is beneficial as it mean i do not have to get somebody else to mime the words and as he is quite an advanced guitar player i can show an accurate and very fancy live element within my video.

My plans for the next week or so preparation wise is to contact Josh, Abigail and Alex (The 3 other people i would like to have in my music video, Josh being the other singer to the band and Alex and Abi to play out the narrative)  to see if they to would be in the music video.

Auteur Theory

The word Auteur comes from the french word for author and in film criticism, the Auteur theory states that a director's film reflects his/her personal creative vision. The theory was brought about by Francois Truffaut in 1954, and has been influencing film criticism ever since. However the film the theory was more famously developed a few years later through the writings of 'The Village Voice' by Andrew Sarris. Sarris used auteur theory as a way to further the analysis of what defines serious work through the study of respected directors and their film.

When the auteur theory was being developed, Alfred Hitchcock was frequently acknowledged as the exemplar for the theory. Hitchcock's film are mark by is mastery in mystery and suspense, with his use of camera views, elaborate editing and us of music to build suspense. Other key elements of his style are: cameo appearances in his films, elongated suspense scenes and representations of the psychological.




Clip from Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho' (1960)

The Auteur theory now appears to apply to music 
videos as well as films:

Harold/Hype Williams born 1970 in Queens New York is a music video director.

Hype Williams has created many music video's for artist within the R'n'B community such as Jay-Z, 2Pac and Missy Elliott.

A signature style used by Williams throughout the vast majority of his videos (shot mostly with cinematographer John Perez) was the Fisheye lens which distorted the camera view around the central focus.

Another "signature style" involves placing shots in regular widescreen ratio, while a second shot is split and placed in the upper and lower bars.

Since 2003, Williams has adopted a signature style combining a center camera focus on the artist or actor's body from the torso upward and a solid color background with a soft different-color light being shown in the center of the background, so as to give a sense of illumination of the background by the foreground subject.

Examples of Hype Williams work...
1:' I Wonna Know What Love Is' Mariah Carey 2009

2: 'So Sick' Ne-Yo 2006

3:'Getting Jiggy Wit It' 1997 - Example of early work.

Goodwins Theory and 'Gold Digger' case study

Goodwin's Theory:

Goodwin's Theory on music video's is based on 8 principles:

1. Link between Lyrics and visuals

2. Link between music and visuals

3.Genre Characteristics

4.Inter-textual references

5.Notions of Looking (objectification of women)

6. Voyerisium (insight into artist life usually with mirrors, reflection ect...)

7.Demands from record label - representation of the artist

8.Performance based, narrative based or concept based

'Gold Digger' - Kanye West and Jamie Foxx: Case Study.

Lyrics And Visuals:

In the lyrics of the song Kanye West and Jamie Foxx  are discribing girls that they believes iare only interested in them because of their money as assumed from the song title 'Gold Digger' At the beginning of the song wear Jamie is singing 'she take my money when im in need...oh she a gold digger' it is here Goodwin's theory is bought into view. Through the use of the close up shot of the attractive girl who appears to be very materialistic with her hair in rollers and her face all done nicely with make up with pearls hanging around her neck, allowing the audience to see on the screen the kind of girl Kanye is singing about in the lyrics.

Reply from artist

Email to artist for permission to use audio

Inspirational video 3: Alone- Heart

I find the performance element of this music video absolutely incredible, the live aspect to this music video when the artists are performing on the stage really gives the video and in turn the song. a great element of excitement. in addition the face passed shots help to bring this atmosphere into life when the power ballad finally kicks of into the big chorus in contrasted to the slow zoom in's and close ups in the beginning during the slow verse.

Insirational music video 2: Oops!...i did it again - Britney Spears

I like this music video because i think it has a very fun narrative. Although Britney is singing about an everyday relationship. The video creates this whole other fun atmosphere around the song. also in this video the performance element is very strong with a dance routine and lots of close up shots of her lip sinking.

plus GOOD outfits

Track Choice.

By Track that i have chosen for my music video is called 'Honey Don't Leave Me' by Connor Johnson. The track is a pop song with a country and 60's retro influences driven by guitar riffs. Whilst the track has other influences i will be working on the song as a country pop track and that will be the influence that drives my music video.

Conventions of the pop genre

From conducting some research i can conclude that the list below are some of the common features and patterns of a pop genre music video...

. Men and Women portrayed in a modern way
. Often singing about and portraying emotion
. Often show Women hurting men 
. Sex presented in modern light: Sexual content usually shown
. Performance is usually more dominant that the story line
. Location: Black and white studio screens and abandoned settings

 The genre of my track also has some very strong country influences so i also researched the conventions of country music in order to also take country conventions into account when forming my music video...

- Instrument is usually visible within video
- Strong narrative
- Outdoor, old fashioned settings i.e woodland, barns and small towns, victorian setting

The research that i have conducted will help me in achieving an authentic music video that takes into account both of these genres.

Inspirational Music Video 1: I'd do anything for love- Meatloaf

The production and detail put into the costumes and setting is very inspirational and correlate very well with the song as the costumes and surroundings are very dramatic which suit the song because the song is also very dramatic.

Timeline of Music Video History.

1960 - The 60's was know as the musical revolution and the time of freedom. Recordings of live music performances were the only music videos seen.  The Beatles, Elvis Presley and The Supremes where among the first bands to create these music video's

1980- The 8"s was a significant time period for music videos beginning the age of 24 hour music television with the launch of MTV. 'Video killed the radio star' was the first video shown on the channel. MTV would grow to become and important tool in music marketing- allowing artists to create their own image through videos and also promoting their music.














1983- Michael Jackson 'Thriller' released This 14 minute long video was the most successful and influential in music video history.



1995- SCREAM: Janet and Michael Jackson , is still today  the most expensive music video ever made. The video cost $7 million.


2003- Youtube allows you to watch music videos whenever you want. It also allows the public to upload their own videos.

AS Task:

My coursework task this year is to create a music video. Magazine advert and digi pack for an original artist of my choice. I am quit excited about this task, as music is something that I am really interested in and I feel like if you enjoy something you will always do better at it. I have a piece of music to use for my music video and have a few ideas of things I would maybe like to do and after I have done my initial research, cannot wait to get started on the task. 

Digital Storyboard

Reflection.

It which ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

As part of our AS media coursework the specification was to create an opening title sequence for a film lasting around 2 minutes long. My film opening ‘Here We Go Again’ is a Drama/Comedy about an ordinary student, living an ordinary life. I researched title sequences and paid attention to the order of which titles conventionally occurred in film openings, and applied this research to the order in which my titles would occur in my film opening. For example I noticed in my research that the director always appeared at the very end of the opening title sequence. My film opening has a quirky realistic style with the use of an average London street and a run down alley, gives and artistic feel to the film opening along with the dream like music similar to the sort of atmospheric music used in ‘500 days of summer’. The music has the same ‘floaty’ sound of 'Sweet Disposition' in the film ‘500 days of summer’ which had an influence on my film opening. Along with the music and the surroundings my film opening became a realistic and artistic piece of film that although filmed in a run down area has a kind of simplistic beauty to it and is showing the simplicity of life in a positive way. As I said this style I think is similarly used in films such ‘500 days of summer’ and also ‘juno’, which share many similarities with my film opening.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My film opening is set in an ordinary greater London town. It does not show the glamorous side to London, for example flaunting iconic shots of central London and its landmarks. My film does not aim to show London as a big exciting place, because it is about real people and set in the real London. I aimed to use my setting a modest backdrop to represent the character in my film. The area looks quite run down showing an area that appears to be very working class, this is enhanced by the bleak colours and the general surroundingsI feel my film opening is supposed to represent ordinary young students who have just moved out of home or are starting university. It is about people of around the age of 18 and insight into some of the issues that may arise in that period of a person’s life. I feel people of that age would be able to relate to my film and make links and comparisons between themselves and the film. However at the same time as this, I chose Matilda to be in my film as I new it would create intrigue as she looks unique and interesting, by doing this I was also trying to represent the ‘misfits’ and minority within the audience I am trying to target. Also I think it gives the film something different to have an unusual main character. my film is also meant to show young people like Matilda in a positive light, I think also through the slow diegetic music a sort of beauty is created by the scenes that are shown, even though they show a built up area rather than picturesque scenery.

What kind of media institution might distribute you media product and why?

I used channel 4 for my production company and ‘channel 4 presents’ is the first title that appears in my film opening. I think channel 4 is the sort of media institution that would distribute my film as they supported low budget films in the past that have gone on to find major success, such as ‘This is England’ ‘Slum Dog Millionaire’ and ‘Shaun of the Dead’. I Also chose Film 4/ Channel 4 for my production company because I feel that the quirky realistic style would be suited to the sort of films channel 4 would usually support for example the 2006 film ‘London to Brighton’ which was a low budget film directed by Paul Andrew Williams and as similar features to my film such showing a realistic interpretation of life, and a similar bleakness to that of ‘This is England’. Although my film will be very different, in that my filmed is aimed to show a positive view of working class life and young people and ‘London to Brighton’ is quite a negative film, the films have a very similar style in their rough filming and bleak lighting.

How did you attract/address your audience?

The audience which I aim to attract through my film is a ‘young adult’ audience between the ages of 16 to 25, meaning I would like the film to be awarded a 15 film certificate. Through the opening of my film I attracted and addressed my audience from a number of different angles. One way in which I attracted my audience was through the simplicity of my film opening. My film opening simple shows a girl walking from the shop to her front door. Through only showing this simple action it will grip my audience in that none of the story is given away and there is equilibrium.  If you give away to much of the story, in the film opening then the audience will have no need to watch the film. My film opening gives the audience a small insight and taster into the style of the film and leaves them guessing as to what could happen in it. Another way in which I tried to address my audience was giving them something to relate to. Many people would be able to possibly relate to the setting and any of the mise en scene so the setting and area of the appearance of Matilda, and of course the simplicity of walking to the corner shop as everybody had done at some point in their life.  Another aspect that I think would attract my audience is the camera work. Because there is not a lot going on in the storyline itself, I found that it was definitely important to make sure that both the camera work and the music were interesting. In my film I use a number of shots, such as your standard mid shots and close up, along with the conventional establishing shot of the corner shop as the very first shot of the film. However I also use a number of slightly more interesting shots such as Birds-eye shots and slightly angular shots to keep things interesting. I also kept the angles changing quite frequently to give the film more pace as life as just showing a tracking shot of the character walking down the road would have been quite boring.

What have you learned about technologies from producing this product?

During the course of making my film I used many different pieces of equipment and technology.  Obviously I use d a camera to film and a tripod to stand it on which I found quite easy to use. We were also given the option to use big backlights however I didn’t need them. Once the filming was completed I used final cut express, a professional editing computer programme, to edit and add titles to my film. To edit my film I played around with the speed of clips, and used the razor tool to cut my footage into individual shots and cut out any mistakes. I used final cut express when making my digital storyboard, the point of that exercise was to learn how to add titles to the footage as well as showing evidence of planning. At first I found this difficult but eventually go the hang of it. I had used garage band before but I used it to compose my music. From doing this I gained experience of using the programme and can now use it more confidently than before. I also had a blog that I had to update as I made progression through the task so we had evidence of planning when our task was complete.

Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in progression from it to the full product?

From looking back at my task one of the man things I have learnt is exactly how much work goes into the making of a film opening, from The filming to the editing, adding the titles and the music. Before doing this task I don’t think I was aware of just how much actually goes into making a film. I think this task has help to see this because I have done it all myself so, I went through each step of creating the film myself and saw how much went into it. I have also learnt how to use many different Technologies, for example up until this point I had not done any filming completely by myself I had always been in a pair or a group so, filming completely by my self was a challenge and I had to learn how to use the camera by myself. I also learned how to use final cut express, which I had not used before and is a professional editing programme used for many TV programmes and was quite complicated to start with. I have also learned a lot about the conventions and necessities of film openings for example the order of titles, with the director always appearing at the end of the titles. And I have learnt a lot about channel 4  and film 4 as a production company and about the types of films they produce and 

Udates 26/4/12

My Film is completely finished and i am now just finishing my write-up and evaluation.

Final Film 26/3/12

My final film is quite different from my original plan...
i have the main walking sequence that i had in my digital story board however everything else on my digital story board i scrapped.

21/3/2012 Completion of movie titles/opening:

Today i have made the finishing touches to my film opening and have adjusted the opacity in my titles creating fading effects on them. Last week i also composed a piece of music using garage band a a key board and created a piece that i though would be well suited to the realism of my opening, and the piece of music works well with my movie. My movie opening now comes in at just under 1min 30sec.

Update: 6/3/2012

I have finnished the editing of my film opening and have added music and edited the diagetic sounds. I know have to just finnish adding the rest of my titles and change the fonts and maybe adding effects.

Extension to film opening.

As my film opening is too short i have had to come up with an idea for a 30 second addition to the film opening.

Plan:

I will get an extreme close up of Matilda's eyes and then through that try and then creat the idea of a flash back in which i will just have Matilda and Matt walking in the park or something like that.

I will film this in the half term break.

Updates: 6/1/12

I have completed the editing of my footage, and i am quite happy with the turn out. i have a range of different shots such as some high angle and birds eye shots which i am very happy with. I have added about 5 titles to the footage so far, and will be adding more within the next few lessons of this week.

The footage i have at the moment adds up to around 1 minute 15 seconds and so i am going to have to come up with and idea to extend my film opening to about 1 minute 45 seconds as even though the specification allows anything under 2 minutes i think 1 minute 15 seconds is probably that little bit to short.

i will be filming this new footage in the half term break ready to add to and complete my film just after the holiday.

Progress: 31/1/12

Yesterday i began work on editing my footage. I didn't find it too difficult however i did find it a bit fiddley to begin with but after a while i got the hang of it. over todays lesson and yesterdays lesson i have managed to get the majority of my editing done. Most of the footage i got was usable there was only a couple of shots that had slight continuity errors like walking through a different door into the sweet shop or walking in a completely different bit of the pavement. so i tried my best to avoid using these shots i hope to be finished editing and begin adding my titles by tomorrow :)

Risk Assessment:

Group Number:  3
Members Of Group:
Jessica Nicholls
Matilda Stewart
Matt Taylor


State Below Filming Dates:
20th January ------------------- 4.00p.m- until dark.     (walking sequence)
28th January ------------------- Undecided                   (Flashbacks and kitchen)
Undecided    ------------------- Undecided                   (Re-shooting)

RISK ASSESSMENT: 


20th Jan 2012:


Filming for walking sequence from the corner shop back to characters house. Filming will take place in East Barnet village and in the alley behind the street. I plan to get alot of long shots form the front and behind and hopefully get some good high angle shots.
Possible risks include falling whilst filming the high angle shots as i will be standing on the roof of a garage also the street will be quite busy due to school children coming home from school so i could be obstructing them and also they could cause a nuisance and obstructed and interrupt the smooth running of filming. Also i will need permission from the corner shop owner to use his establishment in my film.
These risks can be eliminated by having someone up on the roof with me to give me extra support. The crowding issue can be eliminated by maybe attempting to not film with the camera on the foot path but from area's where pedestrians do not need to walk. I will also need to ask the shop keeper permission to use his shop.


28th Jan 2012:


I plan to film my flashback scenes, which will be a cluster of close-ups and extreme close-ups. For these shots i will be filming in Oak-Hill Park in East Barnet in the early evening. On this date i also hope to get my 'kitchen' filming done which again i am planning to only consist of 3 shots one mid shot, one close-up, and one extreme close-up of Matty's eyes.
For the kitchens shot which will be filmed in Matty's kitchen there is not alot of risk involved as it is in a safe indoor environment. however the shots that i will need to take in the park could obviously hold some risks such as obstructing members of the public, such as dog walkers and joggers.
The ways in which i can hope to avoid the risk of obstructing the public is, i can use the grass to film so that me and the actors are not obstructing the footpath.

Editing: 23/1/12

I plan to begin editing my footage tomorrow (tuesday 24th)

Updates: 23/1/12

On thursday (19th) and Friday (20th) i filmed the section of my film opening where my character is walking back from the shops. i was originally worried about the light in that i was concerned that it was going t get dark before we finished but luckily i got the filming done in time.. i got a few lovely high angle shots and will hopefully successfully edit these shot by using continuity editing and create a nice continuous walking sequence.

Todays Lesson 18/1/12

Today i have almost finished adding the titles to my digital story board, however in the real thing i think i will probably change the order in which the titles appear. So, the order in which i will have them appear is something i will need to think about.

Filming: 18/1/12

i plan to film tomorrow, and hopefully get a majority of the filming completed.

Updates: 16/1/12

I have edited my footage that i filmed last week end a majority of it cannot be used but there are a few good close up shots and a nice shot of the dog reacting to sound which i can use to create the effect of her hearing the door opening.

I plan to get some more footage some point during this week..

In todays lesson i have added a few more titles to my digital story board.

Titles: 11/1/2012

Movie Title: Here we go again.
Director - Gary Marshall
Musical Director - Lily Brown

Today.. 11/1/2012

today i am going to research directors and producers ect... to use in the titles of my film opening.

Updates: 9/1/2012

Over the weekend i started to film. i got quite a lot of footage. Today i hope to up-load my existing footage  start adding titles to my digital story board before possibly being to edit my footage that i already have.
I have spoke to Mr Royden and there is a problem with some of my footage but he has suggested ways in which i can re-film this is a more visually engaging way.

4/1/2012 Name of Film.

I have given a little thought into names from my film. as it is a romantic comedy i thought that it should be a play on words or maybe a sort of sarcastic expression of saying. I have thought about...

Happily Ever Never
The story of my life
Take 2
Next Please.

I have not decided which one i am going to use yet.

4/1/2012 Updates:

I have completed my new story board on paper and have uploaded the images on to final cut express.

Story Board: 3/1/2012

Today i plan to start to create a new story board that will be suited more to my film opening that i plan to create . although it is very similar to my first idea, the locations are very different and therefore the story board will not be good enough to use for my newly adapted idea.

Filming and Planning Progress. 3/1/2012

I did not manage to get any filming completed over the holidays which in turn means i am going to have to change locations and actors.
My location will now be at my friend Matilda's house in East Barnet
and new actors to be decided.