My Contribution So Far

Firstly I have contributed largely to the research phase of our music video providing a range of differnt techniques and research that i have done such as:

1. researching digipaks
2. CD cover research
3. storyboarding examples
4. rules of framing
5. target audience research
6. growth of music
7. conventions of a music video

secondly, i have also had a large contribution to the planning phase as i have provided the group with various piece of work that provide a clear and consise description of how we can do our piece such as:

1. types of shots we will use
2. mark scheme
3. call sheet
4. locations
5. filming dates

thirdly, i have contributed greatly in analysing various piece of work by other artists and ameteur groups and analysing what the song is trying to say i have also done much more for example:

1. why we chose the midnight beast
2. TMB poster analysis
3. lyrics analysis
4. amateur vs professional videos
5. analysis of other videos
6. convention of music videos

filming dates

we believe that we have done sufficiant amounts of planning to begin filming so far we have three dates planned for our filming

20th october wednesday: during school periods 2,3 and 5 this will be used to shoot alex and paiges scenes together
21st october thursday: during and after school periods 4 and 5 and then after school we plan to film a large chunk of the scenes set in the office
29th october friday : day in half term we hope to film all of our scenes that take place infront of carfax tower and in the botanical gardens.

we believe that after these three dates we may have to arrange another just to gather up the left over scenes and the rapping scene which involves specilised lighting.

conventions of a music video that we will be using

1. Codes and conventions

• Narrative- which is a music video which has a story and theme to it, our theme is the political election 
• Performance- where the band or the artist is playing, we have a series of differnt locations 
• Mixture- with a mix of both performance and narrative qualities. both comical and topical 
• Cameo- Where the band or the artist is featured in the narrative

2. Camera

• The shots used need to be considered with care, i will be overseeing there use just like they would have someone do so with a film or programme. The shots used can convey messages and emotions.
• Some of the common shots used include Close ups, long shots and  low angle shots.
• Close up: when the camera is closely focus on one spot for eample a face to show emotion.
• Long shots: when the camera portrays a wide shot which could perhaps show a whole person. This could establish settings or characters which relate to the song. we will use this to introduce all three characters 
•  Low angle shots: The camera is at a low angle to make the feature appear tall and dominant. this is used in our piece to show importance of the characters 

3. Editing and sound

• The video we are doing  has been known to use cuts and jump cutting throughout the videos to portray the narrative or the performance.
• Jump cuts- where the camera cuts from one thing to another. this will be used alot to follow the pace of the song
• The editing is usually corresponding with the sound or the song, for example; the lyrics talking about a conversation, so the camera cuts from one person to another to demonstrate the occurrence.

• There can be the use of diegetic sound if those in charge chose to use it.
• Finally there can be a change in the levels of sound, perhaps to emphasise certain sections of the song. this will be used in the middle section of our piece to show the importance of my character and to emphasise what i say.

4. Mise-en-scene

• The use of props, colour, setting, costume, lighting to portray a time period or signifigance of a location
• All of these aspects can add to the way in which the video appears and is eventually presented to the audience.
• The props: the equipment or instruments and any other additional features such as microphones cheese and wine 
• Setting: where the video is set and how it relates to the song. ours has a direct link from the song to the location through the lyrics 
• Lighting: high key or low key can convey emotions and the mood. we will be using flashing red lights in one part of our piece to give a party feel. 
• Facial expressions: emotive and can relate to the narrative of the music. we use a variety of differnt expression from anger to relaxation 
• Colour: the colour used could reflect upon the age and gender of the people and occurrences in the song. this is particulary needed for our piece as we will be dressing in a stictly upper class fashion but through colour in the background we will be showing the chartacters real personalities.

research: growth of music

i had forgotten to put this in towards the start of the blog but i believe its a very important piece of research that i have done about how the music industry has grown and here is a timeline of sorts that ive made.

1960s
Music of the 1960s was characteristic of the revolution that was going on during the decade. It was a time of rebellion and counter-culture in which the younger people were questioning everything, including authority, corporations, the government, and other aspects of everyday life. It was essentially a revolution of the status quo.
The British Invasion was a movement during the mid-1960s in which several bands in the UK were creating a buzz in the United States.

• The Rolling Stones
•  The Who
•  The Animals
• The Beatles

were some of the prominent bands that defined this movement.
The Beatles emerged as the most popular and are now one of the best in commerical success,
They began a trend in the United States and the UK because of their catchy tunes. The Beatles quickly made a cultural impact with their lyrics and their tendency to experiment with different musical sounds.

1970s
The 70s created a trend of relaxing music as well as dance music. Out of this idea emerged the Disco movement.
Although its popularity was relatively short-lived, it created a great deal of songs and artists that are still widely listen to today

• Van McCoy’s “The Hustle” has often been referred to as the definitive disco track. 
• Gloria Gaynor also enjoyed disco popularity with her anthem “I Will Survive.”
• The Bee Gees also helped to define the disco genre with their hit “Jive Talkin’.” Their blockbuster “Stayin’ Alive” is often synonymous with the disco musical era.
•  The Village People’s “YMCA” and “Macho Man” also helped to add to the popularity of this popular style.

1980s
 In some ways, the musical genres during the 1980s redefined the way many bands and artists made new music and it still continues to influence music today.
MTV may have been the single most influential entity in music industry during the 1980s . Premiering in 1981, MTV gave bands and artists greater exposure for their music in a greater and more widely popular medium. The first video ever played on MTV was aptly titled “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles.
Duran Duran is one of the more popular 80s bands that enjoyed the exposure that MTV gave them.
New Wave and Synthpop was another genre of music that came about during this era. This form held on to many of the attributes of the popular Punk Rock genre coming out of the 1970s.

1990s
The musical era of the 1990s was one filled with a variety of pop, rap, and alternative music artists.  Many of the most popular acts that emerged in the 1990's were bands and artists who enjoyed a type of resurgence in the mainstream music scene after their popularity had dwindled for a decade or so.
The early years of the 1990s began with a surge in popularity for music genres like techno and hip-hop that continued throughout the decade.
Groups like Technotronic entered the Billboard charts with big hits like “Pump Up the Jam” and “Get Up. Similarly, the hip-hop music scene achieved popularity with artists like MC Hammer, Tone Loc, and Vanilla Ice. The subject matter that these artists chose to use in their music was as varied as their audiences. MC Hammer, for instance, sung about subjects including the rise of his career as well as songs about praying for the betterment of society. On the other hand, Tone Loc’s songs were riddled with sexual lyrics and innuendo that seem tame and conservative by today’s standards.

Present decade
With the increase in technology the music industry has grown expeditially through the invention of itunes, more music channels and the increasing intrest in the celebrity culture. musicians can now enjoy much more lucrative lives as they are always wanted to endorse some product aswell as making there music
our present day music woud be nothing without the previous decades and each of the ast few stil have a strong inprint on the music industry from the growth of counter-cultural and punk rock to disco and pop music it is irrufuitabe to say that this has not occured

analysis of examples

From the 3 clips that i have gathered i believe that at first glance you see no connections between the videos as example 1 is aimed at 17-21 demographic whereas example 2 is not aimed at a specific age demographic but at a social genre in this case rock/emo scene whereas example 3 is aimed at teenage specificaly girls however even though these three differnt cips are recieved by differnt groups and ages they are all marketed to the same group of 13-21 year old demographic this is the same as our target audience i believe our piece will be best picked up by peope age 16-18 of the social genre of indie however i also believe it will appea to others both below and above this bracet hence the 13-21 year old target audience.

example 3

example 2

some examples of other music videos aimed at the same target audience example 1

target audience

As a group we decided that our music piece was aimed at ages 13-21. we chose this age group because firstly we believed that the message the video is trying to get across is the importance of increasing knowledge about politics to a younger generation using the hypodermic needle theory.

secondly we believed the nature of the video and music will also appeal to students ranging from secondary school to universities as the groups ages are all in the lower 20s.

There is also evidence of the auteur theory as it was the directors aim to get younger people voting.This theory was created by Andre Bazin, a film theorist; it was a cinematic movement in the 50's.
It states the director has full control of their video, using their own creative ideas.

He's well known and respected in Hollywood, with Tim Burton religiously using this theory in his filming.

He has his own signature style of- inter-textuality
filming/editing techniques
certain artists
mood of the piece

ametuer group video

analysis

Amateur video vs. professional

The Midnight Beast cover by three teenage girls

·        Lip syncing was out of time

·        No clear storyline

·        Very unprofessional for example laughter over the video

·        Should have been planned a lot more

·        All filmed inside one house

Goodwin’s points

1.     Selling the artist- not really present only positive would be it seems relatable

2.     Voyeurism- we were able to see them being themselves

3.     Genre characteristics- fun, playful, enjoyable, indie and rap.

4.     Visuals and lyrics- lip synching all be it badly

5.     Visuals and music- editing very basic but evident and goes with the song

6.     Intertextuality- does not fit into any many genres the closest relation that could be made would be indie.

The Midnight Beast version

·        Uses a better standard of camera

·        Storyline follows the story very well

·        Good acting there acting allows us to relate to them as they are just 3 guys having fun

·        Better lighting and editing

·        Well planned out

Goodwin’s points

1.     Sells the artist - there view points through showing there comical side

2.     Voyeurism- you feel like you’re involved

3.     Genre characteristics – rap, indie, topical

4.     Visual and lyrics- lyrics followed the storyline fully

5.     Visuals and music- editing fits the music

6.     Intertextuality- fits the genre and makes light of current day problems

lyrics analysis

Here is some analysis of the lyrics that I have picked up on

• The song is easy to follow as it makes joke of a very serious issue of 2010 through creating almost a rap about the election
• There are no hidden meanings in this piece
• Follows a young group who have created a mock election party and are trying to get people to vote for them instead of the real candidates
• They give a fairly detailed outline of the story through going into which role each of them holds "I'm the chief secretary, to the Treasury".
• They also have smaller topical jokes in there work for example they have include the MPs spending in there work "I could have a mote around my estate".
• also use cleaver play on words that discuss present day issues in our political system "We could sit around, have a mass debate".

lyrics

Song Lyrics

We are the TMB party.

It's election time for an election rhyme,
Vote for us and you'll be just fine.
We'll welcome you with a cheese and wine,
Or kill you kids if you decline.

We have some things to promise you,
We're making buses baby blue.
Red's so last year and as for Big Ben,
It's time for you to join 2010.

Gordon Brown can't brake it down.
David Cam can't do the running man.
Who's the other one?; I think it's Nick Clegg.
Nick Clegg, Nick Clegg, Nick Clegg, Nick Clegg, Nick Clegg,
Nick Clegg, Nick Clegg, Nick Clegg, Nick Clegg, Nick Cleggy in the house.

We are the TMB party.
Come-a, Come-a, Come-a, F**k around with me.
We are the TMB party.
Come-a, Come-a, to our house party.

We are the TMB par-tay.
We're the only party that has a DJ.
Who's in the house? Weed in the house.
We in the house of Parliament.

F-f-f-So much spending tax payer's moneys,
We'll buy cars, cigars, and hot honeys.
I could have a mote around my estate.
We could sit around, have a mass debate.

The prime minister, ever so sinister.
Words like a trigger, I'm verbally bigger,
But not in my figure, go figure the size of my lunch.
The taxes I munch and the credit I crunch.

I'm the chancellor of the exchequer.
I write checks to make things better.
If you do wrong I'll write you a letter.

I'm the chief secretary, to the Treasury.
Got a second house in the Grand Canaries.
If you got probs then bitch be wary,
I could put you in the obituaries.

We are the TMB party.
Come-a, Come-a, Come-a, F**k around with me.
We are the TMB party.
Come-a, Come-a, to our house party.

We are the TMB par-tay.
We're the only party that has a DJ.
Who's in the house? Weed in the house.
We in the house of Parliament.

shooting distances

Alex ha been doing some research on shooting distances points to help with our music video.

Shot distances are very important to show different representations and themes within the video. Use of camera shots can change everything from narrative to mise-en-scene. By filming a close up an a character, we get a better insight into their thought and emotions, or by using a long shots we can make characters apear lonely or lost in a crowd.

Camera Distance	Used for….
extreme long shot (ELS)	Framing landscapes. Human figure is barely visible
long shot (LS)	A shot that shows a character at a distance, spanning their whole height but leaving an area above and below them This focuses the audience’s attention on the character and their surroundings
medium shot (MS)	Also known as a mid shot, this shows a character from the knees or waist up or a full length seated figure. Most effective for showing the interplay between two characters and bridging the gap between a long or wide shot and a close-up
close-up (CU)	Used to show extreme detail or facial expressions. A character is framed from just beneath the shoulders with space left above the head. This shot is effective for showing an audience a character’s emotions and reactions because it focuses their concentration on only one thing on the screen
extreme close-up (ECU)	This shows only part of the head, the area from the lips to the eyes, and is often used for highly emotional shots to increase dramatic effect
over-the-shoulder shot	A shot made from over-the-shoulder of a character, focusing on what he or she is seeing
point-of-view (POV)	A shot seen from the character’s point of view
two shot	A shot with two characters in it

The differnt types of shots will be important for me as im inchage of the framing of the music video so i have paid close attention and i believe by using this table it will provide me with a valuble resource to look back at when deciding on what sort of shot to use in our piece.

digipak final draft of outside covers

This was created by Alex. We kept an on-running theme with the poster that alex earlier designed. The proffesional black and white designed is contrasted with the vibrant colours represent the juxaposition in our music video between governmental business and youtful humour.

We used a range of shots on these covers, with a two shot for the front-cover, mid-shot for the back cover and a close-up for the middle cover.

final draft magazine advert

This is the magazine advert Alex has designed using Microsoft Publisher and PhotoShop.

He used black and white contrasts in the background photo of us, as it allows the audience to focus on the lighting and stand out features, such as our faces that give an element of mystery. This contrasted with the bright orange and green writing represents the contrasting themes of our whole video: the juxtaposition of suits and government themes with the humour of the song.
The information is prominent in its bright colours so stands out to the audience, while still getting the message across with minimum words and a large visual.
Inspiration for this has come from black and white photos such as old wedding photos that use the effect to create a classy atmosphere. we've given a modern twist to that effect in my design, which I am sure will attract our target audience of teenagers to young adults- who stereotypically challenge what they know to find new ways of representation.
I will experiment by using this design plan on our Digipak cover to see if it works as a running theme for the promotional merchandise.

draft of our magazine advert

 

This is a magazine advertisement Alex designed for our project. He created it on Microsoft Publisher and cleverly juxtapose formal images of us in suits and pictures of the party leader that represent government and authority with a black and white image of a house-party and a 'Tempus Sans ITC' font title. This contrast foreshadows the themes of our music video to give our audience a taste of what to expect. With few words yet bold images alex managed to get across all the key information such as band name, song title, release date and where they can download the song.

first drafts of digipak inside covers

These are the first drafts of two out of the 3 inside covers that we have planned they are a good starting poing and have introduced us to using photoshop they can and will be improved in a few ways including the background if you look on the top frame the backgrounds are slightly differnt so i will continue to edit them in photoshop and print a second draft up including paige's Gordon Brown pose.

locations of offices we will be using

here is a photograph of the IT room that will appear in our music video quite alot as it provides space for us too create the illusion that this is our headquaters. this is the same for the few shots below.

long shot of the main desk

here is an over the sholder shot of alex on the computer i took this shot to show how we will be able to create the realistic office feel.

two shot to include both the boards we can use at the begining of the piece where an extra will be writing on.

shots of the english office which is also a possiblity in shooting the video these would be useful as this is actually an office so the mise en scene would only have to be altered slightly.

This is me attempting the Nick Clegg pose as for one of our main ideas for our inside covers of the digipak we will mirror these poses side by side as our main theme is the election of 2010. I will be using photoshop to colour the background of my picture yellow, i will then create one picture by combining the two shown above.

Here is alex attempting his david cameron pose this again will be photoshopped to match the background in the original picture.

call sheet

 

Director: Alex ,Liam and Paige

Camera: Liam , Alex and Paige

Camera control: Liam
Actors: Liam, Alex and Paige
Props:

TMB poster

Blocks of cheese

cheese board

bottle of wine

two dolls

A1 paperboard

cd player

Costume:

Liam: waistcoat, blue tie, trousers, shoes, shirt.

Alex: same as above except jacket instead of waistcoat

Paige: skirt, blue tie, shoes, shirt
Locations:
oxford carfax tower
oxford botanic garden
IT room
oxford statue
Main actors: Liam, Alex and Paige
 Extras: ruhul, eliza, jennie,james, jonny

Sound: All (sound going to be done in editing by the whole group)

Transport: buses to oxford from kidlington and bicester
Scenes: english office: 0:56- 1:08
IT room 1:08- 1:16
carfax tower 1:16- 1:19
botanic gardens 1:19-1:22
carfax tower 1:22-1:23
botanic gardens 1:23- 1:28
oxford bridge 1:28-1:30
IT room 1:30-1:32
carfax tower 1:32-1:35
IT room 1:35-1:41
oxford bridge 1:41-1:42
IT room 1:42-1:46
carfax tower 1:46-1:50
IT room 1:50- 1:53
botanic gardens 1:53-1:54
IT room 1:54-2:05
carfax tower 2:05- 2:06
IT room 2:06- 2:12
carfax tower: 2:12- 2:15
IT room 2:15- 2:17
carfax tower: 2:17-2:18
IT room 2:18- 2:23
carfax tower 2:23- 2:25
IT room 2:25-2:27
carfax tower 2:27-2:29
oxford bridge 2:29-2:32
IT room 2:32-2:34
statue 2:34-2.36
IT room 2:36- 2:40
carfax tower 2:40-2:42

TMB poster

After viewing the video of 'The Midnight Beast' I saw that there was this poster shown in most of the shots so i discussed with my group about the idea of printing off this poster and making sure that we get it into our video as this will help our mise en scene and make the video that little bit better.

research: A few rules of framing

• Firstly when framing you have to imagen horizontal and vertical lines in the frame, this breaks the shot into thirds. when filming you must ensure that the horizontal lines are going straight across the frame and the vertical are going straight down unless you are purposly changing this e.g tilt shot  which will be used a few times in our piece.
• Secondly now that the frame is split into thirds you have to think of where the points of intrest should be mainly they will be in the middle or bottom thirds for example an extreme long shot of a football stand you would put the point of intrest in the bottom thirds however when filming a person you would have to have the point of intrest in the middle third.
• However you must then consider what you are filming and what it is meant to show for example with a shot of a baby crawling you would want the baby to be shown in the left hand third and overlapping into the middle thirds, this would then create leading room in the right thirds for the baby to crawl into, this can then be extended through a shot of the mother watching the baby crawl in this shot you would want to have the subject looking away from the camera and into the space left in the left hand thirds, this space is called looking room.
• You should also consider headroom when filming a shot for example in any shots tighter on the subject than a midshot there should be very little space between the top of the subjects head and the end of the frame. 
• Another key aspect of framing is to look at the background of a shot because if there are too many other points of intrest happening in the background then it will take away from the object that you are trying to get the audience to focus on
• Finally when framing you need to pay close attention to the edges as you can sometimes shoot half a persons head which makes the work look ameteur however it is possible to shoot a subject from waist up as it doesnt throw of the compostion of the shot.

Alex created this storyboard to aid our planning and filming. It shows the first nine shots of our music video and is annotated to help determine between shots, focuses and angles. Having a hard copy of this will be extremely useful, so during filming we can refer to it instantly. Alex drew this out then scanned it onto the computer to upload it here.

storyboarding examples

These are a couple key storyboards that we as a group have looked at. these storyboards are important in any stage of planning as it lays out the type of shots and flow of the film sequence in an easily followed guideline. we will be producing our own storyboard in the next post that will show the first few frames of our video. here are some example of storyboards:

mock up digipak

This is a final mock-up design for our Digipak before we commence with our photo shoot and upload our own images onto the real thing. Putting the images together in this way gives a better visual understanding of how our real Digipak will look. Alex have annotated it to show where the CD and poster will be kept as, well as what order the covers will be in.

We still have more ideas on how to improve the Digipak for our final piece, such as matching the front and back covers colour scheme, and possibly have us standing in suits rather than casually. i will post our final conclusive design in the weeks commencing.