Planning - photoshoot

Yesterday, my group and I did a Photo shoot with courtney and chris. Originally the photo shoot was going to be monday but unfortunately chris could not attend that so we changed it to Tuesday.

In my opinion the photo shoot went very well and we took more than enough photos for us to use for our Digipak and/or advert. I thoroughly enjoyed taking photos of Courtney and Chris although, it was challenging when it came to directing them as it was harder to explain some positions therefore, to overcome this we have to show them.

Exploring emotion in music videos.

For the parts Courtney and Chris are performing in, because they are not singing, they will have to emphasise their emotion through their face an body language, over-exaggerated facial expressions would help to get across certain messages.

From looking at other videos I can see that people who are acting over-exaggerate most of their performance, this helps to understand the narrative. 

Planning: costumes and hair using Celtex.

Researching: adverts.

From looking through a variety of adverts these are two that have caught my eye. I think these adverts would have been successful as they are bright and exciting - especially the one for Green Day.
The advert on the left I like as it has quite an urban style. The title font is unique and the each member is looking into camera therefore following convention. The way the members are dressed suggests that they produce quite 'old school' music. I like the way that it looks as if there is paint spattered onto the poster, this is something my group and I could consider using.

The advert on the right for Green Day I like as they have used more than one picture, this I believe is a good way to catch people attention, it makes the advert more satisfying to look at.
The most powerful thing for me on this poster is the flame, its bright, very striking and therefore a brilliant way to catch someone's attention. I would find it almost impossible to walk past this without looking at it. 

Planning: Merchandise

 These are all T-shirts by Lower Than Atlantis, an idea we have come up with is to make t-shirts for the band 'Peaceful Panic' using adobe photo shoot.

We may use one of our own photographs to put onto the front of the t-shirt we make.

We will also make different coloured t-shirt so that people who prefer to wear brighter colours can.

Research: advertisements for Lower Than Atlantis

This is a tour date advertisement. We may make one of these as an additional product despite it not being on the brief. I think it would add to the promotional package. I like the picture showing the band perform live as it shows off their growing fan base, a picture such as this we could create using a green screen. I think that this would attract people as it shows their popularity.






These are adverts for Lower Than Atlantis, we could consider putting tour dates into our digipak as well as making an advert.


I think that the one thing missing from these posters is colour, I think that using colour in the adverts would be a better way to grab someone's attention. Synergy is vital for our products as we are creating a promo package for Southbank.

I think it is easier  to walk past an advert that is in black and white than it is to walk past one that is in colour. Colours that we could consider using would be, reds, blues and purples however, we need to research this and locations. It could be that due to the genre we choose darker colours eg black, grey, green with white font.  I think these would emphasise the pop/ soft rock genre.
           

Planning: Initial ideas for our music video.

Group post.

This is a poster me and my group produced during lesson to show our initial ideas. We analysed the lyrics of our chosen song, discussed what it made us visualise and then wrote down either a couple, or just the best ideas.
I enjoyed working with my group as it gave us a good opportunity to talk too each other properly and discuss ideas thoroughly.

Film schedule for first recording.

Steve Neale's theory on 'Repetition'

Steve Neale suggests that 'repetition would not attract an audience' from the video 'So what!' by Pink, I do not think that this is the case, therefore I disagree with Steve Neale's statement.

I find it interesting how a video jumps back to different parts of a video, the video cuts back to different scenes, such as pink on a tractor, in the bar and cutting down a tree, I think this makes the video more gripping and definitely not boring or too repetitive. I think that by making a video jump back to different scenes can sometimes help to emphasise the narrative - it shows how someone has overcome something, therefore comparing something from then to now.

If I am watching a video I do not find it annoying if something is repeated as I assume that it is done on purpose to support the narrative.  

Research: Analysing a music video - Marianas Trench 'Cross my heart'

This music video is by Mariana's Trench, a band which originated from Canada. This band covers a range of genre's such as Pop punk, Pop rock, Emo pop and Punk rock.

All of Marianas trench music videos are performance and narrative based, they are all very unique and offer something I believe is different to what any other band I know of do.
This video in particular is one of my many favourites from this band because I love the style and how it has been set out e.g. the story and setup.

The video starts out with a girl, in a long shot, walking through a street as the camera pans next to her. As the camera tracks back following the girl, the lead singer (Josh ramsey) comes into centre frame from behind a wall, Josh walks fast into the frame and chases after the girl as he sings a long to the song in a close up shot of both their heads. The girl Josh is chasing is oblivious to what is happening around her, this may link to what she is like towards Josh e.g. not listening, taking him for granted.

A slow motioned, high angle shot introduces the people dancing in the background, I believe these people are there to emphasise all the thoughts and feelings that are being thrown around in this video.

As the chorus begins and the camera tracks back you suddenly see hundreds of people, dancing, singing, participating in a live band and even cheerleading through the street.

The lyrics say ''I will run to you, till I can't stand on my own any more I.. cross my heart and hope to die'' I love this line as it suggests that the boy cannot live without the girl and will not give up chasing her until he physically cannot stand anymore, the part saying 'Cross my heart and hope too die' suggests a stereotypical cute relationship where they make big promises to each other that they promise never to break.

The main girl picks up a newspaper in a medium close up. As the camera pans around her Josh comes up behind her a whispers into her ear 'Take me with you I start to miss you' repeatedly, from this shot it makes me think that Josh could be her conscience, all what is being said in this video could be what has been said previously in the relationship and the girl is going over it all in her head as she walks through the street.

In the end of this video the girl takes out her headphones and turns around to see the massive parade and Josh showing his undying love for her, I think the end of this video shows the girls realisation that she misses her boyfriend. She then, in a medium close up and over-the-shoulder shot, grabs Josh's tie and pulls him into her house.

How has this music video influenced my planning and creativity?

What have I learned?

• The rate at which cuts are used can emphasise mood and can suggest movement.
• Costume is very important and can suggest a lot about the characters e.g. mood/wealth
•  The mis-en-scene suggests their location and should fit well with where they are situated e.g. the newspaper the girl picks up and newspaper stand.
• The way in which a person stands or walks can also suggest/emphasise mood

From what I have learnt this has all inspired me to try different approaches when it comes to filming. For example, comparing a slow motion shot with an average shot of the same thing to see what works best, or even trying different shots with different people to see who suits the role better.

When filming, we will make sure that the props we use work/fit with the setting e.g. if we were filming on a street and needed an animal we would use a dog or cat as that is what you would expect to see, unless of course we wanted to do something different, that the audience wouldn't expect and if so, we could use an animal such as a sheep (something out of the ordinary)

Something else we could experiment with is hair and makeup, we could change someones hair and makeup to see what looks more appropriate with particular scenes.
We will also experiment with different shot types, such as high angle, low angle, medium/extreme close up - since our music video is 'Pop Punk' I believe that there should be many close ups of the band faces and instruments, we would do this to make sure that we are following convention, as that is what we have seen many other bands do such as You, Me at six, Marianas Trench and Neck Deep.

Planning: Logo Ideas.

Planning: Production name ideas.

Today we have been trying to come up with ideas for a production name.

Initial ideas.

Shell Productions - this name has already been taken. 

LHS Music - This name sounds like it could be associated with drugs.

Shannli - This name does not sound official or normal. 

Lisanha - This name sounds like lasagne. 

Shine Records - This unfortunately already exists.

The name we have decided to use is Sasha Sounds, this name is simple and easy to say. 

The colours we are thinking about using are;

Navy blue 

White 

Gold 

black. 

These colours suggest that we are a formal company, we will also use a Sash within our logo to create a connection between the name and picture. 

Research and planning: Initial ideas into the Digipak.

When it comes to creating a Digipak we need to create something that no one else is likely to have done before, it needs to stand out to make people want to buy it over any others.

Not many people today still buy CD's this is because of all the other ways we are able to listen to and to watch music videos, such as YouTube, ITunes, Music channels (MTV and ITube because of all this new technology it caused HMV (a popular entertainment retailing company) to shut down, HMV were not able to sell enough CD's as people were already able to download music and music videos themselves at home.

I think that the Digipak that we make needs to be bright and outgoing, such as the ones I have screen grabbed. The cover needs to be something that will grab someones attention and make you want to pick it up and buy it.
On the inside of the Digipak there needs to be something that others don't have, something unique.
I think that in our Digipak we will include lyrics to Peaceful Panic most popular song, information about the band, exclusive pictures.

Planning: What is the purpose of our music video?

The purpose of our music video is for it to be a diversion, an escape from someone's real life and problems that they face. I think that all videos, in some way, are an escape - each video is unique therefore there will always be a video that someone can relate to.

Our video, will also be something that people look at to discover their own identity, we will try to make sure that each band member has their own style (that will also co-ordinate with other members) that will make other people watching want to be like them and/or look like them - something for teenagers to aspire to.

The two points I have stated were originally suggested by Blumler and Katz, as a reason to why audiences may watch a music video e.g. as an escape or for their own personal identity.

Research: History of music videos and how institutions get them out to the viewers.

There is a variety of ways that institutions get music videos out to the public. It does not matter where the video is first brought out, whether it be ITunes, TV or YouTube there will always be someone to take it and upload it somewhere else - this is how other people begin to find out about new videos, also word of mouth helps to advertise too.

There are a lot more ways now for institutions to bring music video out, whereas years ago this was not the case, it was a lot harder for music videos to gain recognition. The first ever music video was broadcasted on MTV in 1981.    

Planning: Music videos and how they have changed.

Music videos over time, have changed greatly with the help of new technology such as C.G.I, the quality of music videos have also improved as our cameras and other filming equipment have become more advanced.
I believe that music videos will continue get better as technology changes and there will be new ways to make videos more exciting and gripping for the audience, I think this is great as it means that we are able to create videos that are not like any other, as technology changes, so will the music videos, it will also make music videos more exciting, not only for the audiences but also for the people who make them as there will be no end to what they can create.

Initial research into costumes.

Reel Big Fish are a very out-going band, and in many of their videos they wear a variety of interesting clothing.

In one song 'Sell Out' they can be seen wearing bright shirts, black suits and even a costume that looks like a box of chips.

I think that this band wears clothing like this to draw attention to themselves, to make them stand out over other bands that probably would not wear that type of clothing.

I think that when we come to deciding on clothing for Peaceful Panic we will not break convention and will stay with a typical 'Pop Punk' style, I think this would be better as it will make the chosen genre more obvious.

Research into locations.

These are examples of a place of which we could consider filming, I think that to have a couple of shots with the lead singer singing here would look good as it is a wide open space with lots of opportunity for a variety a shots.

More research into shots that could be used.

These photo's were taken whilst the band were practicing their music, I think that shots of the band in this formation would be a good idea as it shows them in their own place, performing somewhere comfortable.

The second picture was taken whilst the band were setting up their equipment. I think that slow motion shots of the band talking to each other, performing and setting up their equipment would look interesting within the video.

Practising taking shots and keeping my hand still whilst filming.

 

Starting to video.

Meetings with the band.

I have recently had a meeting with Peaceful Panic and they have each said that they would be happy to perform in a music video. We have discussed locations and have agreed to try out places such as quiet streets around Brigg and also Brickyard Lane (an area of which not many people visit and is surrounded by fields)
When we begin back at college, the band and I have arranged on a Wednesday to have a recording night when they will begin to record 'Emily' in preparation for the music video.
I have told the band that they are expected to wear makeup throughout the video - makeup will include Primer and Foundation.

The band are also happy for me to choose what they wear during the videos, I am going to discuss with each member what clothes they already have that would be suitable, and if we need to, I would be happy to buy anything extra that is required for the video.

Initial song ideas.

The song in which me and Shane have decided to do is 'Emily' by Lower Than Atlantis, the song is very upbeat and has hard beats of which will help when we come to edit the video. Me and Shane have emailed Sony Music Licenses and have asked for their permission for us to use the song, the email read;

''I am writing to ask for your permission for me and my friend Shane to use the song 'Emily' by Lower Than Atlantis to create a music video for our A2 media coursework. The video will be for educational purposes only and will not be put onto YouTube or used in any way to make money. My teachers name is Miss King and if you wish to contact her email is Kings@gmail.co.uk''