Replica of pop video and lip sync exercise - gaining experience with Adobe Premier Pro
September 2010
Introduction to entropy/redundancy within music video
October 2010
Research into music videos belonging to a similar genre, introduction to narrative theory in music video, and initial digipak research
November 2010
Research into music video auteurs, music video pitch, in depth research into the content of my music video (mimes, scopitones and the soundies), research into specific digipak designs and beginning of digipak production
December 2010
Location shots, further digipak and album art research, digipak photoshoots and image manipulation, audience feedback, finished print production work and planning of the music video cast
January 2011
Analysis of shot types in other music videos, research into inspiring films, time planning for the music video, animatic storyboard and shot planning, research into film filters and effects, props and costume planning, details of the first video shoot and audience feedback
Febuary 2011
Finished music video and question one of the evalutation "In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?"
March 2011 - Questions 2, 3 and 4 the evaluation: "How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?", "What have you learned about your audience feedback?" and "How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?"
This blog is now complete and ready for assessment.
I think this stage of my coursework was where I made the most use of Web 2.0. In terms of finding inspiration for the music video task, the social networking and video streaming site 'Youtube' proved to be the most effective for material. It featured official band websites, which included music videos for the band. It also contained fan-made videos for Fren
ch film, which proved incredibly useful as it was a quick and easy forum to access particular scenes and clips out of the films. Due to the fact that the internet is global, I was able to access media from all over the world, thus giving me better research resources. I was able to search for bands who belong to the same genre of Two Door Cinema Club (the band who I created a marketing package for), and learn about genre conventions. David Buckingham argues that "genre is not simply given by the culture, rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change". This definitely proved to be true - through the use of Youtube, I was able to learn about and understand 'indie' genre conventions, gather ideas of my own and then
develop them into something original.
Another interactive website I have made great use out throughout the entirety of my A Level course has been blogger.com. This has allowed me to present my research and planning effectively, and embed HTML codes, allowing me to feature videos from websites such as youtube and slid
eshows from websites such as slideshare.net. This is another example of web 2.0, as the website has allowed me to both consume media and then create media for other internet users.
For the planning stages, I made use of Windows Movie Maker to create an animatic story board. I drew the pictures out on paper, used a scanner to get the pictures onto the computer, and then organised them in windows movie maker to create a storyboard which responded to the music that would later be used on our music video. This proved particularly useful later on in production stages, as I could refer back to the animatic story board I had previously made to make it easier to organize video clips.
When organizing cast meetings, video shoots and audience feedback focal groups, my 'Blackberry Smartphone' became very useful as it was a quick way to contact the necessary people required for the different aspects of my media coursework. Without new communications technology, it would have been a lot more difficult to arrange video shoots, thus making our music video a lot less successful.
Production
For my print production tasks especially, my Canon EOS 450d was an incredibly important and useful piece of Media technology. It allowed me to take professional looking photographs, as opposed to taking photographs on a mobile phone or a digital camera. I could experiment with ISO levels, so I could achieve an ideal white balance for my photographs, which in conjunction with studio lighting allowed me to take a successful photograph. The auto-focus setting made it easy to get a clear and focused picture. The 18 - 55 mm lens allowed me to take a variety of shots, from close up to long shot. In my opinion, this was one of the most vital pieces of technology for my print production coursework, because it allowed me to take a variety of high mega-pixel shots, which were then easy to edit in Adobe Photoshop, which in conjunction with each other helped me create a successful print production pack.
Adobe Photoshop CS5 was really useful for both my print production task and my music video. I designed the entirety of my print production task on Photoshop, and was the ideal media device for doing the job. I made use of brightness and contrast filters, to make a more distinctive monochrome image. The layers feature and the magic wand tool allowed me to edit the image so I kept the distinctive red braces on my photographs, which looked affective with the black and white image. The clonestamp tool allowed me to alter any make-up mistakes, and the burn tool allowed me to make darker aspects of the photograph more distinctive. The clonestamp tool was also incredibly useful when merging images together, which was a key aspect of my digipak design. It made it easy to arrange text on the pictures, and chose an appropriate point size and colour for the design. Using professional media technology such as Adobe Photoshop allowed us to replicate something that would be produced in the media industry.
We also used Adobe Photoshop for aspects of the music video task. We wanted to create a vignette to differentiate between the flashback clips and the clips in the 'present'. Do do this we filled the page using the radial gradient tool and then applied a gaussian blur filter to make the vignette more subtle. We then saved it as a PSD file and imported it onto our music video. Without the use of Adobe Photoshop we wouldn't have been able to create a distinctive differentiate our flashbacks, thus making the narrative in our video less clear and understandable for the target audience. Also for our music video task, we experimented with the RGB Curves filters on Photoshop to find out which settings looked the most successful on a photograph. After doing this, we applied the same settings to our music video, and were able to put a colour filter that we were happy with onto our music video. This was essential as we wanted our video to have an 'unpolished vintage' look, and without the colour filters it would have looked more modern due to the high quality image produced by the HDV camera.
For the entirety of our filming, we used a Panasonic HDV camera. I found these cameras very easy to use, as I had previously used DV cameras which recorded onto a tape, which made the clips a lot harder to manipulate in post production. I found the zoom on the top of the camera was easy to operate and allowed us to create effective and professional shots. It also made it easy to quickly view clips we had previously created, as the clips were recorded straight onto an SD card as opposed to a video tape. In conjunction with a camera tripod, we were able to create smooth pans that replicated shots created in film and other music videos.
For our music video task, the main piece of software we used was a programme called Adobe Premier Pro. This allowed us to import video clips, and arrange them in succession to one another to create a understandable narrative for our music video. We used the razor tool to cut up clips and create cuts that we were happy with. I had previously worked with video editing software such as windows movie maker, but this software went into a lot more depth and allowed you to make much more precise cuts, which meant aspects of the video such as the lip sync could be a lot more accurate. It allowed us to create continuity edits, where bits of our video moved smoothly between two shot to a close up to a POV shot. However, we did find parts of this software limiting, for example when we first created our storyboard we intending to use a film grain effect on our flashback clips, which would have created a much bigger distinction between clips than our vignette. In this case, technology determined the final outcome of our video, and I think our video would have been more successful had we have been able to produce clips with a film grain effect.
Evaluation
For the evaluation stages of my media coursework, I made use of Web 2.0 and social networking sites such as Facebook. This was a quick and easy forum to broadcast my media work and receive audience feedback from quite a varied audience. I used this especially for my print production work, as I was easily able to upload an image of my digipak and advert and other facebook users were able to post comments and opinions underneath. As a result of this, Web 2.0 provided an easy way to get constructive feedback on my work, which then allowed me to improve my work and create a more successful media product.
When presenting my evaluation Microsoft Powerpoint and Slideshare.net provided an easy and more interesting way to present information. I was able to put labels on my work and demonstrate my ideas through using images and text boxes. I could then upload it to a website called slideshare.net and embed the HTML code into my blog. This is another example of Web 2.0, and corresponds to David Gauntlett's theory of a "sit-back-and-be-told" media culture transforming into a 'making and doing culture' - I was able to publish my own work on the internet and contribute to online media.
For my A2 course this year, I had to create a print production package that consisted of a magazine advert and a digipak for an album. Subsequent to that, I had to find a partner and direct and create a music video, keeping in mind the themes from my print production work to create a coherent marketing package. Prior to starting the print production work, my partner had already decided upon the basic narrative for our music video, and upon the song we were going to use. We knew that we were going to make our music video about two mime characters, even before we had created a storyboard for it, therefore we both chose to feature a mime character on our print production work. The idea for this was to create a house style which meant the whole package worked well together, in order to attract our target audience and make it easily recognisable as the bands house style.
Dan Biddle, 17: "You have an excellent degree of coherence in your three media products, The usage of the mime has been maximised to its full potential here, well done!! You've made it very clear that all three are related and linked by using the same colour schemes throughout and i think that is the main reason for your high level of coherence, that and that you've used the same actors and costumes, and font. I'm finding it very hard to see a fault in your work, the only thing that immediately springs to mind is: where is the female mime in your print work? she features very heavily in the video, but alas, she is no where to be seen on the advert or digipak, one would expect her to be there having seen the video. My favourite aspect of your print work is the digipak cover, i love how you've taken a reel of photos and lined them all up like that, it really does look FANTASTIC!!"
Elizabeth Money, 18: "yeah they are coherent, the colours & style are all the same and the mime is present in all three making it easy to tell they all come from the same artist"
After carefully analyzing different aspects of my digipak design, magazine advert and music video, I concluded that the main link between the 3 was the use of the 'mime' costume, which formed a coherent link between the three media texts. Aspects such as lighting, font and colour scheme differentiated between the print production and music video, however I thought the 'mime' theme featured throughout was enough to create a coherent house style for the product and band.
My audience responses shared a different view to mine, and seemed to think that the colours and font were coherent throughout. Although I do not agree, I am pleased that they think that there is a coherent house style, meaning that the marketing package would work well together, and that I've created a successful "brand" for band/album.
In order to understand whether our music video was successful, it was essential that I carried out an audience feedback survey. To begin with, I gathered 5 people who belong to my target audience, who would for example:
Be a student, of around 15 - 25 years of age
Listens to 'indie' music often
Has an interest in music video and film
Be an 'aspirer' or a 'radical'
Have the cultural capital of contemporary French cinema/narrative form
A - C1 demographic
I thought carefully about which questions I would ask my focus group, so as to effectively glean what aspects of the video would have to be changed to create a more successful media product.
Do you understand the narrative? This was a particularly important question, as we were concerned as to whether the plot of our music video was clear. This was because the story wasn't told in chronological order, and parts of the story were conveyed through flashbacks, therefore it may not have been necessarily clear to our audience what was happening.
Does it comply to the indie genre? This was also important because the video needed to 'fit in' with the song, otherwise the target audience for the song might not aspire to watch the video. I purposely selected an audience of 'indie' music listeners so they were more likely to take a preferred reading to the music video.
Are the edits smooth? This was just a general question, because in my opinion the video would have been unsuccessful if the transitions between clips were jumpy and uneven.
Is it easy to understand that parts of the video are flashbacks? This question is to do with the narrative; if the flashbacks were successful than so is the narrative.
What is your opinion on the French subtitles? This was the most entropic feature of our music video, and we were unsure as to whether our target audience would find them effective, or whether they would find them annoying as they are in a foreign language. The intention of these flashbacks was to add to the stereotypically 'French' mise-en-scene.
Is the mise-en-scene effective? This was a key part of our music video, as we thought carefully about aspects such as the background, the bikes used, the costumes, the café location, etcetera. The narrative also rely's a lot on the mise-en-scene, so this was an incredibly important factor.
What would you improve? This was the most important question, as it would allow me to discover what my target audience didn't like about the music video, and whether they took an oppositional reading to it. Upon editing a second time around, these comments would allow us to create a more successful music video.
Conclusion of initial audience feedback:
My target audience did understand the general plot and narrative of our music video, which was a crucial aspect in ensuring that our music video was successful.
The answers I received for the genre question were quite varied, however they all said that the video did comply to the 'indie' genre. An answer I found particularly interesting was "Yes, i think that it's a bit different from other stuff, and that's what 'indie' is about." From this, it can be gathered that the entropic aspects of our music video were successful. We were concerned that audience members would take an oppositional reading to our music video, due to misunderstanding of the narrative or the video being unsuitable for the genre, however my focus group understood the narrative and thought the video was suitable for the genre.
The cuts between shots are smooth, and cut in time with the beat.
80% of my focus group understood that parts of the video are flashbacks, however one person in my focus group didn't understand that until watching it a second time round. One of the members of my focus group gleaned that the flashback clips were represented through the use of a vignette around the clips, which I found surprising as I thought it was quite a subtle aspect of the music video. In order to improve the understanding of the flashbacks for all of my focus group, a more obvious way of representing the flashbacks would have to be used, for example: gray scaling the flashback clips or applying a film grain effect.
There was a very mixed response to the French subtitles. Part of this could be due to the fact that my audience members lacked the cultural capital, however we could not expect the target audience to understand the French subtitles as it was an English music video. On the other hand, the members of my focus group who disliked the subtitles due to misunderstanding of the language lacked the cultural capital to know that the subtitles are a common feature of French film, particularly pre 1950's French film. The intention of these subtitles was to add to the stereotypically French mise-en-scene, however I think that in some cases this didn't come across, and perhaps in order to improve the music video from the point of view of my target audience, the French subtitles should be removed. Some audience members did say that it added to the French ambiance of the video, however due to the mixed response I feel that they weren't as successful as we hoped they would be.
The mise-en-scene was an effective part of the music video, and everyone in my focus group found that the costumes/locations/make-up worked effectively together and helped create a general French feel to the video.
2 out of 5 people in my focus group mentioned the long reverse zoom at the end of the music video, and said that perhaps the shot was too long and needed something adding to stop it dragging. I agree with what they have said, and think that to improve the music video we would have to interweave flashbacks between the clip so that the last 20 seconds aren't boring for the audience.
I was pleased that nobody in my focus group said that they wanted a more conclusive end to the story, as we wanted to leave that open to the audiences interpretation. We wanted to leave the video on a cliff-hanger, otherwise the narrative in our video would have complied to the hypodermic needle theory, leaving nothing to the imagination and interpretation of the audience.
Although my focus group gave useful answers, I felt as though this group as slightly biased as they were all aged 17 - 18 and didn't cover the whole age range of my target audience. To gain a more varied and unbiased response, I posted our video on the social networking websites Facebook and Youtube, and asked people to give their opinions as a whole, and whether they understood the narrative. Some of the responses I received were:
"This is really goood :D The video and the song match perfectly and I like the effects at the start. Wish I knew how to do that haha"
"So at first I felt like I was watching a Panic at the disco video... but no I really like it. Colours are good (iunno if you've put some kinda filter on there but the greyish overlay looks cool and goes with the whole indieish feel of it). The one thing i would say is that I think the stop motion should be a bigger part of it. Like that works so well, should be more."
"I really like this, I think it's really well done. The story is good and clear, nicely put together"
"Really like the song and the whole Parisian clown/mime theme, works really well and its really entropic. The filters with the colours is really effective and the edits of the shots, like the spinning around and sitting is great movement, making it more interesting. The narrative is clear, and lipsyncing is good but could be a bit better.
Overall, its awesome! :D"
"Understandable narrative - particularly like the first shot sequence - leaves you questioning why they are both so standoffish - this is later answered in the video - very creative"
These responses to my music video are a lot more unbiased, because the people responding to it cover an age range from 16 - 22, and are mixed gender. I was particularly pleased that everyone who answered took a preferred reading to our video and understood the themes and narrative in our music video. Quite a few responses claimed that they liked the video, which meant they were entertained by our music video, thus fulfilling it's purpose. This also means that my intended audience had the cultural capital to understand the video, which means that we successfully addressed our target audience of 'indie' music listeners. I agree with the response about the stop motion; we intended to incorporate more stop motion into our music video, however we discovered that the video would have looked disjointed due to the difference in quality and lighting between photographs taken on a DSLR camera and video clips shot on a HDV camera. As a result of this, we had to delete all of the stop motion photographs taken on a DSLR and take a new selection with the photograph mode on the HDV camera. To do this more successfully, we should've have anticipated a potential image quality difference and tested them before shooting the final video.
I was curious to see how people outside my target audience group responded to my audience, and whether they responded well to the media text or whether they took an oppositional reading to the text due to factors such as age, cultural background, etcetera. I asked an unbiased middle-aged 'middle class' female to watch the music video, and to give her opinions on the video as a whole and the narrative. Here is her response:
"The story of the video is clear. I was concerned about the clown part but realize it is relevant to the plot. I thought the video put more meaning to the lyrics of the song. I found the video entertaining and wanted to see more!"
I was quite surprised by her response, as I didn't expect her to enjoy the video. She took a negotiated reading to one part of the video; she found the scene inappropriate, however understood that it was relevant with it's contribution to the narrative.
I also asked a 13 year old boy from the same background the same question, and this was his response:
"It looks very professional and it's well directed, the plot was clear. But I did think the video became a little repetitive"
Again, he understood the themes and narrative of the music video, which was pleasing because people belonging to my target audience and people outside my target audience understood the plot. Before making the video, we were concerned that due to the fact that the story was told in non-chronological order, people would fail to understand the values expressed in the text.
After receiving this audience feedback, I have concluded that the video was understandable, however in order to improve upon editing, these factors could be altered:
Remove some/all of the French subtitles
Alter the lip sync slightly
Add in more stop motion so the video is more coherent within itself.
The evaluation for my A2 Media Coursework will be divided into two sections: Music Video and Print Production task.
Music Video:
French Film
For our final music video, we took a lot of inspiration from modern French Film, and consequently utilized and developed many ideas used on French films that we have watched and enjoyed. The French films we took the most inspiration from were Paris, Je t'aime(2006) and Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulin (2001).
This scene from Paris, Je t'aime was our main inspiration for the 'mime' theme in our music video. We wanted to add an extra layer of meaning to the song by corresponding to Goodwin's idea of an 'amplifying' music video, whilst complying to the indie genre by making th
e video entropic. Because of this, the narrative in our music video told a typical love story, where a relationship between two people was going successfully until 'disequilibrium' occurs and one person in the relationship is unfaithful; however we added an entropic twist to the 'love story' convention by making the love story about two 'mimes'. In some sense, this makes our video conform to Todorov's theory, stating that narrative always involves a transformation. However, because the most-part of the narrative in our video is told through flashbacks, the narrative isn't in chronological order therefore it isn't as "linear" as Todorov's theory of "equilibrium and disequilibrium".
Another film we took inspiration from was Jeanet's "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulin'.
Aspects of this film that inspired us were the stereotypically 'French' mise-en-scene, which we tried to replicate in our music video by filming in French style locations such as 'cafe rouge'.
We also tried to create similar colour effects that were used in "Amelie" to give it an old fashioned feel. As a result of this we followed Photoshop tutorials to create a "cross-processed" colour effects by changing the RGB curves on the image. Once we had found the desired effect we incorporated it onto our video in Premier Pro. We also felt that this would help our video comply to the indie genre by looking less airbrushed more home made.
Stop Motion Animation
Another influence for our music video was stop motion animation, as we thought it was an effective technique incorporated into many 'indie' videos, such as Kate Nash's "Foundations" (above). To create our stop motion clips we took a succession of photographs (usually enough for about 8 frames per second) and edited them in Premier Pro to create a moving image out of the photographs. Parts of stop motion used in our music video helped keep the narrative moving, for instance where the tear drop runs down the male mime's face. This demonstrated his sadness and helped put across the "disequilibrium" in our music video.
One of the main aims we had when creating our music video was to utilize and develop ideas from sources that inspired us, whilst developing our own ideas through interpreting meanings to the song and incorporating ideas from our own interests to keep it original. We took a lot of inspiration from film in the hope that gaining ideas from different media would stop our video belonging to mainstream music video conventions, whilst still keeping redundant factors such as the lip sync to keep it recognizable as a music video. We wanted to keep it looking 'unpolished', as 'indie' music often contradicts the mainstream, so we felt we had to convey that in our music video. Steve Neale claims that genre is 'instances of repetition and difference', therefore we incorporated 'unpolished' aspects into our music video to replicate the 'indie' genre (an 'instance of difference'). 'Unpolished' aspects of our video were achieved through the use of fast motion in parts, which gave the clips an uneven 'jumpy' look, much like stop motion animation.
Another convention of the 'indie' genre is large amount of entropy, making sure the audience find the media text original and interesting. We felt our 'mime' characters were very entropic, and the stereotypically French mise-en-scene kept it interesting whilst holding the video together with a French theme throughout. The use of these entropic factors was to purposefully appeal to our target audience, as 'indie' music listeners often aspire to contradict the mainstream, therefore would look for an original and different music video. Creating entropy is potentially dangerous when aiming to produce a media product as there is a certain amount of risk in creating a completely original product, as there is a chance that the audience won't understand or relate to the product. This is why it is important to incorporate some redundant and easily recognizable features to make sure that the audience understand the media text.
Other entropic factors of our music video included:
- The 'old film' style text at the beginning of the video, instead of using the small and discrete text often incorporated into mainstream music videos. We felt this replicated 1950's cinema, and therefore is entropic within the twentieth century. This text was also achieved through the use of stop motion animation, which primarily helps the video to belong the indie genre.
- The French subtitles. We felt this would also help replicate the 'old film' style that we aimed to achieve in our music video. This was a particularly risky part of our music video as we were unsure as to whether the audience would understand that they were intended to add to the French 'ambiance' of our music video, or whether they would find them an unsuccessful aspect of the video as the most part of our audience wouldn't understand the words.
- The 'this is the life' jump-cuts. These jump-cuts were purposefully done to continue to make the music video look 'unpolished' and therefore 'indie'.
However, redundant factors we included to keep the media text recognizable as a music video were:
- Cuts on beat: We felt that a common feature in the majority of music videos were that the cuts between shots were on beat. This was important to include in a music video as it although we wanted it to have an 'unpolished' look, we still wanted to achieve a professional outcome and this was an important aspect of that.
- Fast paced edits: Because music videos are fairly short, the cuts between shots need to be quick and smooth, whilst keeping the narrative moving forward, to ensure the music video is interesting for the viewer.
- Match on action shots: We felt these were particularly important whilst filming, as different angles and shots can capture different events and emotions in a scene. This was particularly prominent in the 'café' shots, were we used a mix of over-the-shoulder shots, close ups and two shots to put across the character's feelings in the scene. This helps keep the narrative moving forward and helps keep the music video interesting for the audience.
Comparisons between my Media text and others:
My Media Text: "This is the Life" by Two Door Cinema Club
A Professional Media Text: "Ooh La" by The Kooks
I have chosen to compare my video with the video for "Ooh La" by The Kooks, as the songs are very similar and belong to the same genre, therefore the target audience would be a group of people belonging to the same demographic. The purpose of this is to analyse in detail whether my media product features the same conventions as another 'indie' video, whilst still having differences to create a diverse media text.
Similarities:
Towards the beginning of the music video for "Ooh La", colour filters have been utilized by either adding one to the camera lens whilst filming, or editing in post production. For the entirety of our music video, RGB Curves filters have been added to give it an old fashioned look. This was done in post-production as we did not have sufficient tools to create this effect whilst filming, and it would have limited our creativity in the editing stages.
Lip Sync: This is a convention of not just indie videos, but the vast majority of music videos. It makes both videos more literal, and means that the image on the screen responds to the lyrics in the song.
A mix of handheld camera motion and steadicam: In both videos, a variety in filming technique was used, which creates diversity within the music video and stops it being too stationary.
Jump cuts: Throughout my research and planning, I discovered that jump cuts were quite a common convention for indie music videos. This is evident in the video for 'Ooh La', where jump cuts have been used quite heavily. We have a few sections of our music video where jump cuts are used; in particular the "flower shop" scenes and the "stair scene".
This is not usually a convention of indie videos, however I noticed that my video and the video for 'Ooh La' both contain a 'Parisian' theme, suggesting that perhaps a stereotypically French mise-en-scene is popular within the indie genre.
Flashbacks: In both music videos, flashback clips are utilized to create a non-linear narrative. This is most likely a convention of indie videos, because the video will still have a storyline, however will portray this in entropic ways to correspond to the genre.
Differences:
The video for 'Ooh La' is slightly more amplifying than our music video, as it features the band playing instruments, as opposed to actors miming the lyrics. It is very common to have the band featured in indie videos, however entropy is in also an import aspect of the genre, therefore I feel our music video also corresponds.
The majority of the video for 'Ooh La' is in monochrome, which differs to ours. We felt that if our video was in black and white, the feel for the entropic mise-en-scene would be lost, thus making our video correspond to the indie genre less.
The entirety of our video was a narrative about the mimes, whereas the video for the Kooks told a love story with clips of the band intertwined.
The conclusion of this analysis is that our music video does correspond to the indie genre, due to it's similarities with a similar media text, however it has enough differences to be original. This means that it corresponds to Steve Neale's theory about genre being "instances of repetition and difference".
Print Production task:
In order to create a successful magazine advert and digipak, it was essential that I did a great deal of research into similar products, in order to grasp the typical conventions usually featured on these products. It was important that I looked into products which belonged to the 'indie' genre, as that was the genre of music that I would be producing for, therefore it was essential that the print production appealed to an audience of typical 'indie' listeners.
Within digipak designs and album art, I found that conventions featured throughout were:
9 times out of 10, the name of the band was in a clear and distinctive font, so the digipak would be eye-catching from the point of view of the audience. A lot of the time, the band name printed on the digipak would be the band logo. I couldn't feature the bands real logo on my design, however I created my own which was used throughout both my digipak design and magazine advert. This was to make sure all my print production was coherent, and recognisable as one marketing package. I tested various different microsoft fonts, and downloaded several from 'dafont.com', to see which would look most effective. In the end, I found that 'Rockwell Condensed' looked the most effective on my print production work as it was eye catching without being 'over-the-top'.
I found that 'indie' album art work could be separated into two different categories: album artwork that looked 'homemade', and album artwork that featured photography.
I did research into both kinds, and began work on two sets of print production to compare which looked the most successful. In the end, I found that my photography work looked more successful than the 'homemade' print production work, therefore developed that in order to create the most successful digipak and advert possible. I used Adobe Photoshop to do the entirety of my print production task, and used a Nikon D60 DSLR to take the photographs.
I found that digipak products often have leaflets with them, so in order to most successfully replicate a real digipak, I created a leaflet. I looked at other album leaflets, such as Red Hot Chili Pepper's "By The Way" and "Californiacation", and found that they usually feature photographs that correspond with the album cover, lyrics to the songs on the album and 'special thanks'.
For research into magazine adverts, I scrolled through 'indie' magazines such as NME and Q, to understand what typical 'indie' adverts look like. Typical conventions I found were:
A band logo, which is often used on the album artwork (see above)
An image of the band, or an image which corresponds with the artwork on the album. As a result of this, I used the same image featured on the front cover of my digipak in my advert, to create 'coherency' throughout my print production work and keep it recognisable from the point of view of my target audience. The image I chose featured the model looking directly at the camera; this was done to draw the audience in to the image.
Short reviews, such as "Effortlessly spectacular' NME 8/10" These are a good marketing technique as it gives the consumer a good idea about what they are buying before they do so, therefore it was an important feature to incorporate onto my advert design. To correspond with the genre of my band, I featured reviews from 'indie' magazines such as NME and Q magazine.
A logo of the record label that the band are signed to. Not only does this advertise the band, but it also markets the record label, and if their logo is easily recognisable then consumers are likely to look out for other products with that label on it. Therefore I included Two Door Cinema Club's label Kitsuné Records' logo onto my design.
I found that my print production task was more redundant that my music video, as with the print production it is necessary to conform to digipak and advert conventions to keep it recognisable as those media products. Therefore my digipak was designed on a 6 panel layout, much like the ones used for other digipak designs. It also featured title text, copyright information, pictures, track listing, barcodes, lyrics, 'special thanks'; all redundant elements that a consumer would expect to see on a digipak design. Similarly with my advert, it contained title text, photography, critic reviews, and record label logo that the audience would expect to see. For this reason, I think that my advert and digipak are fairly redundant. However, there are elements of entropy, for example the mime character featured throughout is fairly unusual, as normally images of the band are usually featured. Additionally, I think the use of colour on my print production work is fairly entropic, as the majority of the image is in black and white, appart from the red braces. I feel I have complied to Steve Neale's "genre is instances of repetition and difference", as I have kept to standard conventions within digipaks and adverts, however developed my own ideas to create something fairly unique.
Over the past week my partner and I have been working on the editing for our music video. For this, we have been using the programme 'Adobe Premier Pro'. We have had limited past experience with the programme, therefore using it this week has been a learning curve. We have made use of online tutorials and videos to help us achieve our desired effects. We also discovered how to apply these through experimentation with the software and asking our teacher. The effects we've been trying to apply this week were effects such as:
Sepia toning
Vignette
Cross processing
For the sepia toning, we added a yellow 'Colour Matte' layer over our video layer, and set the opacity to a reasonably low level. This layer gave our video a sepia 'tinge', which is what we wished to achieve to give our video an 'old' look.
The vignette we created was made in Adobe Photoshop, and then consequently imported into Premier. This was created through using the elipse tool, applying 'select > inverse' to the circle and then applying a gaussian blur to create a shaddow effect. We then removed the background and imported it into Premier, and added the vignette to our video clips.
We were unsure of how to create a 'cross process' in Premier, but through experimentation with the software we discovered that the colour adjustment tools were similar to the ones in Photoshop, which we are familiar with. Therefore, we searched 'Cross process filters in photoshop' on Google, and found the following tutorial:
In order to glean whether our music video will be successful upon production, my parter and I asked our target audience the following questions. We wanted to know if "indie" music listeners would be interested in watching the video, and if it sounded like a realistic and interesting idea. We also wanted to know if there would be any improvements that could be made, so that the finished product is as professional as possible.
1. Would you recognise this as an 'indie' video?
"Yes, I like the twist on the normal love story by using mimes"
"I think so, the vintage filters will make it look a bit different and isn't something you would see in the mainstream"
"I like the idea of the flashbacks, I think that makes it a bit indie because it's diverse"
2. Do you feel the video is aimed at your age range and would appeal to people of your age?
"I think it is definitely aimed at our age range, perhaps people from about sixteen to twenty, maybe a bit older"
"Yes I think it's definitely targeted at a teenage/young adult audience, I don't think older people would listen to this"
3. Does this video sound like the sort of video you'd see on the television?
"It sounds like the sort of video you'd see on the music channel 'NME', because it's a bit quirky"
"I don't think you would see it on mainstream video channels, but definitely more alternative ones"
"Yes, it also looks like the sort of video that would be very popular on the internet"
4. Would you watch it?
"It looks quite arty and that interests me"
"Yes I would, I like the band and the video looks interesting"
"Yes, I think the mime's would draw people in because it's unusual"
5. How would you improve it?
"Possibly have more variety in the flashbacks because the same ones are repeated quite a lot"
"I'm not sure, I like the ideas you already have"
After asking members of my target audience these questions, I feel optimistic about our music video and that it will appeal to "indie" music listeners. I agree with the comment "Possibly have more variety in the flashbacks because the same ones are repeated quite a lot", and as a result of this my partner and I will brainstorm more ideas for flashbacks that will correspond with the rest of the music video.
Our aim for today was to carry out the 'bedroom scene' shots:
"Bedroom Shots (Total of 11 shots = 44 takes)
Location: Milly's House
Estimated time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes (20 minutes set up, due to changes in location around the house and changes in camera angles, 1 hour filming, doing 4 takes of each shot, lighting check, 5 minutes test shots) Cast required: Vince, Sam and Milly"
The first video shoot ran successfully, and all the shots were recorded on a HD digital video camera in the intended location. We did have anticipated lighting issues, as we were unable to get hold of a lighting kit for today's shoot. We managed to overcome these issues, and created a "romantic" mise-en-scene with various lights to exaggerate the ambiance of the scene.
The shoot took less time than anticipated, therefore we managed to film shots for the chorus, where there will be a series of jump cuts with are 'mime' characters miming to the lyrics in the song. We were particularly pleased with these shots as we found an interesting backdrop for the shots which complied with the mise-en-scene for our music video. We also managed to create some stop-motion animation at today's shoot, using a Canon EOS DLSR and a tripod to keep the images smooth and realistic. We then used Windows Movie Maker to get an idea of how it would look when it is edited onto our video. The final outcome of this stop motion clip will be slightly different in the music video as it will be edited in Adobe Premier Pro, where the transition from one image to the next will be slightly faster.
Here are a few pictures of today's video shoot:
This is one of the photographs from one of the stop motion sequences, in which the black tear on Vince's face moves downwards to demonstrate his sadness.
This is the set for our 'bedroom scene'. We chose it for the interesting backdrop and black and white colour scheme which corresponds with the mimes costume and make-up. We added extra lights to make the scene look more ambient and atmospheric.
Our 'make-up artist' Emily doing the face paint for our female protagonist, Milly.
In our music video, the mise-en-scene is one of the most important factors as the plot for our music video is a stereotypical 'love story', however the French mise-en-scene and unusual costume will make our video comply to the 'indie' genre and make it more entropic.
Costume
For our music video we will use similar costumes to the ones we used for the print production, as we felt those worked successfully and therefore will come across well in the video. However, in our music video it will be incredibly difficult to edit make-up flaws throughout the clips, therefore when we are filming we want to ensure that the make-up looks as convincing as possible. For this reason, we have asked our close friend Emily Sparkes to do make-up for the music video as she is a very capable artist and we feel she would do a great job.
An example of art-work by our 'make-up artist'.
For the costumes, we will need:
1. Striped top/shirt
2. Braces
3. Black trousers/skirt
4.Top hat/beret
5. White face paint/black liquid eye-liner
6. Black or white gloves
7. Black footwear if it appears in the scene
Also, for the clown costume we will need:
1. Clown Mask
2. Checked shirt
3. Bow tie
- It is not necessary to use any other costume for this character as it will not be visible on camera.
Both my partner and I have made arrangements for the costume. Our actors already possess most of the clothing, however we have had to buy the make-up for the scene, and borrow other items such as the braces and the top hats.
Props and Location
The props we use in the video are equally important as the costume, as it will help add to the general look of the video as a whole. We have discussed the general feel we want our music video to have, and therefore we will endeavour to feature typical "1950's" or "French" props in our music video. These will be objects such as wind up telephones, accordions, playing cards, record players, old cigarette packets, etcetera.
Example of a "French" prop - My partner Leah owns an accordion and can provide it for our music video
Example of a '1950's' prop - these can be purchased on ebay or at vintage shops
The location of our video will be in various different places. These locations include:
1. The River Severn in Worcester: Running along side the River Severn is a cycle path and walk way, which is lined with trees and cathedral gardens. My partner and I saw this as an ideal setting for our 'bike' flashbacks, as the setting looks cultural and will look effective in our music video.
2. Café Rouge in Worcester: As this café is French, it will be ideal for our music video as it completely corresponds to themes we are trying to create. There is French lettering on the café walls, and the design of the restaurant also looks effective and artistic.
A picture of Café Rouge, Worcester
3. The house of our female protagonist, Milly Morris: We found the wallpaper and décor in this house corresponds well with out music video ideas and therefore will be ideal for indoor scenes such as the 'bedroom scene'. The walls are black and white and therefore will fit in with the 'mime' costume and make-up.
For our music video, we want to create an 'old look', therefore we looked into what colour filters will be applied. This 'old look' will help give the sense of reminiscence, which is one of the key themes in our music video. We wanted to achieve a look similar to the one created in this clip:
After carrying out research, this effect is often achieved by applying faint blue and yellow filters either to the camera when filming, or in post production whilst editing. I experimented with these filters on a photo to see if I could achieve the same effect. Here it the original photograph:
I then applied a 'Cross Process' filter, which was achieved by adding yellow yellow and blue filters on photoshop. I also adjusted the contrast slightly, so the image looks slightly more distinctive. Colour filters are something that can also be applied to film in Adobe Premier pro, therefore after previously experimenting with colour filters I will know which ones to apply.
Here is the 'Cross Processed' image:
In our music video we also want to apply a film grain effect where the flashbacks are used, to help portray the fact that these shots are flashbacks. We thought this would work more effectively than using effects such as a grayscale filter as it would look too abrupt in between the shots with colour. I experimented with film grain effects on Windows Movie Maker, utilising different strengths of the 'Film Age' effect to see which effect looked the most successful. I used a series of photographs similar to the shots we will take to apply these effects onto. Here is the result of my experiments:
From this I discovered that the 'Film Age (Older)' effect is the most successful. The 'Film Age (Old)' effect is barely visible in these clips and I feel that the change in the shots would not be distinctive enough for the audience to distinguish that those shots are flashbacks. On the other end of the spectrum, the 'Film Age (Oldest)' effect is too strong and makes the image difficult to see. As a result of these tests we will apply the 'Film Age (Older)' effect to the flashback clips in our music video.
Filming: Indoor Shots 1 - Saturday 7th January 2011
5.30 pm onwards
Potential problems: Camera Availability (busy time)
1. Bedroom Shots (Total of 11 shots = 44 takes)
Location: Milly's House
Estimated time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes (20 minutes set up, due to changes in location around the house and changes in camera angles, 1 hour filming, doing 4 takes of each shot, lighting check, 5 minutes test shots) Cast required: Vince, Sam and Milly
Filming: Indoor Shots 2 - Tuesday 9th January 2011
10.10am - 11.10am
Potential problems: Studio Availability
1. 'Photobooth' Shots (Total of 4 shots = 16 takes)
Location: Worcester Sixth Form College, photography studio
Estimated time: 30 minutes (5 minutes set up, 5 minutes lighting check, 20 minutes filming) Cast required: Vince and Milly
2. Head and shoulders 'miming' shots (Total of 5 shots = 20 takes)
Location: Worcester Sixth Form College, photography studio
Filming: Indoor Shots 3 - Tuesday 9th January 2011
6.30pm onwards
Potential problems: Public place, ease to film
1. Jump Cuts - Two Shots (Total of 13 shots = 39 takes)
Location: The Firefly, Worcester
Estimated time: 1 hour (5 minutes set up, 5 minutes lighting check, half an hour filming, allow 20 minutes for interruptions from people in a public place)
Filming: Outdoor Shots 1 - Wednesday 10th January
12.30pm
Potential problems: Unsuitable weather conditions
1. Hill shots, mime's running towards camera (Total of 3 shots = 12 takes)
Location: Rebecca Gardens, Worcester
Estimated time: 30 minutes (10 minutes set up and lighting check, 5 minutes test shots, 15 minutes filming, doing 4 takes of each shot) Cast required: Vince and Milly
2. Café Rouge shots, mime's at table (Total of 9 shots = 36 takes)
Location: Café Rouge, Worcester
Estimated time: 1 Hour (15 minutes set up due to changes in camera angles, lighting check, 5 minutes test shots, 40 minutes filming, doing 4 takes of each shot) Cast required: Vince and Milly
3. Bike shots (Total of 8 shots = 32 takes)
Location: River Severn, Worcester
Estimated time: 1 Hour (15 minutes set up due to changes in camera angles, lighting check, 5 minutes test shots, 40 minutes filming, doing 4 takes of each shot) Cast required: Vince and Milly
1. Point of view shots (Total of 5 shots = 20 takes)
Location: Worcester Sixth Form College
Estimated time: 20 minutes (5 minutes set up and lighting check, 10 minutes filming and retakes)
Filming: Indoor Shots 4 - Sunday 14th January 2011
1.00 pm onwards
Potential problems: Cast transport to location
1. Sofa Shots (Total of 18 shots = 72 takes)
Location: Leah's House, Worcester
Estimated time: 1 hour (15 minutes set up due to changes in camera angle, 5 minutes lighting check, 40 minutes filming)
Photography: Stop Motion Animation - Friday 8th January 2011
5.00pm onwards
No potential problems
1. Stop Motion animation of inanimate objects (accordion, back of cards, socks, gloves)
Location: Emma's House, Droitwich
Estimated time: 30 minutes (5 minutes set up and 25 minutes taking various pictures)
distinctive. The clonestamp tool was also incredibly useful when merging images together, which was a key aspect of my digipak design. It made it easy to arrange text on the pictures, and chose an appropriate point size and colour for the design. Using professional media technology such as Adobe Photoshop allowed us to replicate something that would be produced in the media industry.
