Linking Back to Theories

When looking through my blog I realised that a part from my initial research, I haven't really discussed any music video theories whilst linking it back to my ideas, so here goes.

Sven. E Carlsson:
Modern Mythic Embodiment 
My music video will represent the artist and their performance as an electronic shaman. This is because in my video we do not see the artist at all. The middle aged couple take front and centre stage and it the primary visuals throughout. Instead, the artists voice anchors the visuals and acts as a spiritual guide. The voice connects the images and sounds so in this case, my artist sings the lyrics and it is matched with visuals that are my representations of what I believe they mean. For example, one lyric reads 'I'm kneeling and praying' which I will match with a shot of a religious set up, as I believe the lyric holds religious connotations.

Perceiving Music Videos and Video Styles
My video will be a visual story telling, This is because my idea consists of a couple trying to find happiness and we, the audience, follows their journey with them, so it tells us a story. The video will contain various narrative clips which will help allow the story to flow.

Andrew Goodwin
Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics - as my video is of the folk/indie genre I have added in certain characteristics which I believe will help to establish this to my audience. For example, the folk genre to me consists of the countryside and is very outdoors based in music videos hence why I decided to film some scenes outdoors such as the local woodlands and beach areas.

The demand of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and develop a motif which will occur across their work - this is something I don't think is necessarily important in my chosen genre. This is more popular in the pop culture but I haven't included any closes up of the artists or in fact any shots of the band at all. This is because I feel it wasn't needed for my video, and that it's not very common in this genre. There is more of a freedom for indie/folk bands to be as creative as they please as there is less demand from their record label, therefore there is no need to include lots of close ups of their faces.

There are frequent references to the notion of looking and particularly erotic treatment of the female body - as my video contains a middle aged couple this idea was highly inappropriate and never even crossed my mind to include. This is more common in a pop video but have never been attempted in the folk genre as there is no need for it.

There is a relationships of visuals and lyrics and music and visuals - This is something I have greatly considered when planning my video. As mentioned above I have linked visuals to some lyrics and when I start to edit my video I will edit in time to the beat of the song. This notion is common in all areas of music genre and I have taken shots where I have taken into account the music I am filming with. This is something that I could have completely ignored as the folk/indie genre allows me to do that, however I want to create visual links to keep the audience entertained and link it all together.

5 Aspects of a Music Video:

1. Thought Beats - As I've previously mentioned, the musical structure of my chosen track has been taken into consideration and artist's voice shall be the story teller
2. Narrative and Performance - The audience will create their own interpretations on the video no matter how well the story is told,  they will make up their own minds as to what they believe the message is. The narrative and performance will work well together and keep the audience entertained. I hope to add my on twist on my story to keep in original as the artist is not included in the video.
3. Star Image - as my artist isn't to appear in the song it will be difficult for the audience to remember them. However, the visual links made between the video, print products and digipack will certainly help to establish a brand identity so the next time they release a product, the audience will be able to see the links and recognise the band.
4. Relations of visuals to the song - The visuals will illustrate the meaning of the lyrics as well as amplify others so that the audience can immediately associate the meanings to the song.
5. Technical Aspects - The lighting used in my video will be natural to really push the aspect of the countryside in the folk genre. There will be no artificial lighting as I want the video to look as pure as can be. I will edit some shots to look brighter than others so that it can add emphasis to the moments. The mise en scene is all natural areas and none of it is made up or artificial, therefore will look more aesthetically appealing as it will seem realistic.

This will be useful when the exam looms nearer as I can look back on it and use it for my revision. 

Until next time,

                          Toni

Filming Update No.2

So today's filming schedule was shot at Seaham beach. Although the weather was more muggy than what I expected, I still managed to get some good shots and upon viewing the footage, I feel like I got all of what I needed - there's no need to re shoot anything as far as I can tell.
Now the next time I plan to film in tomorrow which is the photographs scene, and then take a couple more shots throughout the rest of week and then I'm finished and ready to edit my first cut.

Until next time,
                          Toni

Filming Update No.1

Today begun the official filming process of my music video. The scenes I filmed today were the woodland scenes and upon reviewing the footage it all looks pretty good - I got a range of different shots and even managed to film in the local ruins as well. The whole process took around an hour and a half.
There are a few more shots I'd like to take so I will have to reschedule those sometime in the next week.

Tomorrow I shoot at Seaham Beach and then throughout the rest of the week I will shoot the remainder of the scenes needed.

Until next time,
                         Toni

Pinterest Board

This is an overview into the costumes, prop and more inspiration settings  I want to include in my video.
I have made a board on pinterest with a couple of ideas as to how I want the video to look and have gone into a little bit of detail in each of the pins explaining why I chose this and why it's relevant. You can find it here. This board is just to act as inspiration for my video. I hope that some of my scenes display the fact I got inspiration from here but if not, then I will complete a comparative post on what worked, what didn't work, why it didn't work and how I adapted to the suituation.

Until next time,
                         Toni

Call Sheets

Here are the call sheets that will be given to my actors, Gerald Hendry and Geraldine Hendry (yes they are two seperate people). The call sheets have been made for the three seperate filming days, the woodland scene, the beach scene, and the photograph scene. These three scenes are the key ones in which most of my filming will be shot in.

The shot/scene column refers to my storyboard. There are other scenes I need to film as well but this doesn't require a call sheet as there is no need for any actors in those scenes. I realised this on the first call sheet hence why so many scenes are crossed out. So the first shooting day is the woodland scene, the second shooting day being the beach scene and the third is for when I'm filming inside the house.

So those are my call sheets to give to my actors. 

Until next time,

                          Toni

Location Scouting & Test Footage

So the other day I went to scout for my locations just to make sure that firstly they were available, and that they were suitable to film in.
The first place I plan to film is the woodlands in Bearpark as they are local, less used and have a lot of little alcoves and footpaths which are isolated so run less risk of someone disrupting the filming. As it is local, I know my way around and know all of the locations where I can film - there will be no nasty surprises on the day of filming.

Here is the walk down to the woodland which is the same location I used for my AS coursework. At this point of the year the setting is very colourful and bright in the autumn time which is what I want for my video.

 Here is the entrance to the woodlands.

The  images left and below is where I will be filming the woodland walk. I will possibly be filming in the depths of the woodland but my initial idea is to film here.

 Some scenery shots I can take as fillers.

Here is another entrance to the woodlands.

This is my backup location just in case for some reason the woodlands and pavement is off limits. This is a small meadow on the way down to my location which is also a suitable location to film in for the woodland scene.

In the very distance is the small bridge I mentioned in my storyboard post which the couple would be crossing over.

The woodland is a good area to film in because if I link back to my audience feedback, it was mentioned that the name, The Shires, had links to the countryside and this bares well with my chosen genre as there are connotations of the English countryside with the folk genre - therefore filming in this setting suits best for my genre.



The next location is my house, which is the easiest place to film in. I know when to get the best lighting and which angles I can use. This also links to my concept as there is a sense of personal belonging throughout the lyrics. There is a lot of links to the couple's relationship through the use of family photos and their demenour around each other. To film inside their home adds intimacy which is what I want the audience to experience.

And the final main location is Seaham beach. Unfortunately I couldn't scout for a location there but I know the place well and know of a little alcove in which I can film in. As I couldn't take my own pictures, the ones below are sourced from Google Images.

On the ramp in the distance, the couple could stand at the top and then run/jump down to the beach.

I have an idea for filming at this particular rock. To keep in with the childish humour, the couple could play hide and seek in this location. I wanted to film at the beach as for me, this holds a lot of memories for the couple as we'll see through the scenes containing the family photographs. The beacj is a place where the the couple have had a lot of fun with each other and have enjoyed their time. Their return to the beach from the distant past will help the couple to relive their childhood fun together one last time before returning home.

If for some reason the beach is unsuitable for filming, then I will change the location to somewhere else, such as the grounds of Alnwick Castle or a set of ruins of an old priory, a local attraction in Bearpark. This location is just beyond the bridge and is on the same route as the woodland so it is easily accessible and suitable for filming in as well. Again, the imagery of the old, overgrown setting in the ruins links to the English countryside, which works well for my genre.

So these are the locations I will be filming in. I have already filmed some test footage to work out the settings on the camera I'll be using, a Fujifilm Finepix HD 30-EXR, which is excellent for filming in all settings, including low lighting. - I have filmed in a different range of lightings with this camera and I haven't experienced any problems with it so far.

Below is some test footage for when I film the close ups in the external settings. 

The shot isn't exactly how I wanted it as I would have preferred the background to be slightly more blurred, but it's still great quality and is perfect to use for my video. Another problem is that when the lens is zoomed in fully, the focus blurs if there's a lot of movement from the camera, but there is a setting which reduces and prevents this so hopefully this won't happen when it comes to filming the real thing.

So that's my footage and locations. Now all I need to do is complete the rest of my planning in time for the end of the next week so that I'm ready and prepared for filming - I've already filmed some shots today and so far, so good!

Until next time, 

                          Toni

Contacting the Band

Here is the proof that I have contacted Cattle and Cane's management and asked permission to use their track for my video. 

 

Until next time,
                         Toni

Shooting Schedule

This is the shooting schedule for my music video. As I've said, the shooting will begin this weekend and continue on the 24th - 28th October. Obviously it won't take me that long to film for my video, but those are the dates that are available. All the other shots that don't involve the couple are from the 29th October - 1st November, but hopefully at that point I will have had everything filmed and ready to start editing.

Until next time,
                          Toni

Storyboard

Now that I've secured my song choice, the initial ideas of my brand identity and the concept/narrative of my video, I'm now uploading the schematics of my music video - and starting it off is my abysmal attempt at a storyboard.

I realise that I've written very basic descriptions and although I can understand what I've written it would be better if I went into more detail, shot by shot alongside images where I've found inspiration from.

Shot 1 - At the beginning of the song, the instruments start to build up so i thought to use this time for establishing shots to help set the scene. I will be filming in my local woods. The camera will slowly pan forward in these shots and I will get a range of different angles and settings.

Shot 2 - There is a little bridge at the end of the woods and as the lyrics read 'burning all your bridges to the ground' I would use the literal term and have the couple walk across the small bridge - Shot 1 helps to build up to this part.

Shot 3 - just the same as shot one, just some shots of the surrounding area.

Shot 4 - Again, the lyrics read 'calling in the darkness' so i will shoot when it is dark. I chose the car setting as I want the audience to know that the couple are searching for some excitement and they are willing to drive across time and distance to find it. I will be taking these shots this weekend (Saturday 17th) as the opportunity has presented itself. Keeping with the theme of shooting in the dark, I will also get a few shots of the couples bedroom, as I want to show the audience their relationship as well as adding a personal touch to the video.

Shot 5 - Again, more shots in the car. I didn't want to keep drawing and describing the same scenes over and over again, hence why I've put 'see 4'

Shot 6 - This is a long shot following the couple through the woods. This may also be added with close ups of their faces too.

Shot 7 - again I've put see 6 as I didn't want to keep repeating myself. Also, there's no set structure to my video. These shots don't have to appear at this time and it might not even be the shot I've described in the text. When I film, it'll be the case of arriving at the location and getting as many shots as I can, and watching them over to determine which is the best shot I can use when it comes to editing. Some shots will remain in their position, such shot 2&4 as they specifically link to their lyrics, yet for the others I will play around in the editing and see what fits best where.

Shot 8 - This is the scene where the couple is looking over all their old photographs, another personal and intimate moment for the audience to see. This scene will range from a pan over the photos in the couple's hands as well as a long shot of the couple sitting on the couch in the centre of the shot, looking at the photos together. The lyrics read 'I would do it all again for you', implying that the couple wouldn't have lead their lives any other way.

Shot 9 - This is when the beat kicks in and the tempo speeds up. As the beat kicks, the couple are back in the woodlands running through the forest. In post, I plan to edit the running in time with the beat of the music.

Shot 10 - As the lyrics repeat themselves, I will fill this space with miscellaneous shots of the woodland area such as flowers and hill sides. I hope to start filming the woodland scenes from early morning so as the video progresses the scenes get darker and darker, further implying to the audience that the couple have spent a while trying to find the happiness.

Shot 11 - see shot 6, more scenes of the woodland and the couple

Shot 12 - The lyrics read 'Just to hear you breathing is all I need to hear. Don't you turn away dear, there's nothing left to fear.' To me, this is a very intimate lyric so I want to match this with a very intimate moment. I now realise I forgot to draw an image of the shot in the box (not that I would've done a decent job of it anyway), but my idea is that along the woodland walk there is a couple of benches that overlook a small valley which would be a fantastic place to film at during midday. When I scout at this location, I will take a picture and reference back to this post so you'll be able to see what I'm describing here.

Shot 13 and 14 - At this point it will alternate between different scenes, such as the wedding photo scenes and more of the woodlands.

Shot 15 - Here I have included a scene from the children's park, which links with the concept of the video.

Shot 16 - This is to be the close up shot of the couple on the see saw. They're to look in the camera and laugh, as if they were looking into each others eyes. This shot will be in slow motion. The below images are taken from the video to Sold My Soul. I like the aestethic appeal of these shots. The focus is of their faces and although the background is blurred we can clearly see they are outsidse in the countryside. I hope to take similar shots to these, especially in the children's park.

Shot 17 - At this point, the music reaches the bridge of the song, and the music slowly starts to build up again. When this starts, the couple have found the beach which is the endpoint of their goals. They've found the excitement after spending a while looking.

Shot 18 - the beat begins to kick in again, and I want to create a few graphic matches when they walk through the woods and walk onto the beach. I will also cut between the indoor scenes again. I have another idea of showing pictures of the beach when the couple are looking at their photographs. The camera will pan over the photo and then it will match with a shot at the beach.

Shot 19 and 20 - Again, I have no set structure at this point, so it will just cut between all the different scenes

Shot 21 - At this point in the video, this is where all the darker scenes will take place. I hope to create a shot where all the photos that the couple were looking at are now on the wall, much like these images from below

 

I plan to film this scene in the evening time but if the quality isn't great then I will film during the day instead

Shot 22 - repeated shot

Shot 23 - The lyrics read 'I'm kneeling and praying' so I thought I'd create a scene with a cross on the wall or some form of religious symbol as I want the literal meaning to transfer from lyrics to screen. I hope film this shot during the evening, but again if the quality is lacking then I will film this in the early hour of the morning. This will be a medium long shot

Shot 24 - repeated shot

Shot 25 - The beat of the bridge quickens in tempo so I will edit all three scenes together in time to the beat

Shot 26 and 27 - The lyrics read 'my home' and I want the shot to be of the couple running down onto the beach, which I will edit into a slow motion as the song stops momentarily before all the instruments begin again together, in one triumphant sound. The camera will follow the couple from behind whilst panning slowly forward. I also plan to get different angles as the couple run towards the beach so that there is variety.

Shot 28 - This will be a close up of the couple laughing and having fun at the beach. I hope that location will feature cold weather as the lyrics read 'chocking on that cold dark December'. This will hope to translate in the shot as well, as I plan to film late October, so the couple will be dressed in warm winter gear. I hope it's that cold that we can see the couple's breath when they're laughing, which will help add some production value.

Shot 29 and 30 - The lyrics read 'I would do it all again for you' and I plan to match this with close ups of the pictures on the wall as well as a different shot of the couple on their wedding day. These would both be medium close ups of the photos so we can see them clearly.

Shot 31&32 - these are similar to shot 25 by cutting between all three of the key scenes I'm shooting in. I'm not specifying what will be sequenced here as I will decide on that when I begin to edit it all together.

Shot 33 - This is the ending lyrics where we see the wife helping her husband with his tie. This will be an over the shoulder shot as the couple look at each other and smile. This is similar to the shots I used for You've Got The Love. 

Shot 34 - This is the final shot of the couple leaving the house. It will be a medium long shot as they run through the door and into the outside world, wearing similar clothes to the ones in the beginning of the video, almost as if they are at the beginning of their journey again. The lyrics read once more 'I would do it all again for you', signifying that they really would do it all again for one another. The scene will end as the screen fades to white. 

So that's my storyboard shot by shot. As I've said, I will begin filming some scenes this weekend hopefully as I will be travelling in a car with the pair, which will work for the shots in the car (obviously).

Until next time,

                          Toni

Summary of Questionnaire

This is a follow on post of my questionnaire results where I will go into a little more detail of my findings.

The name of my band will be The Shires. This is was the popular answer and one of my favourites to use so I am pleased with the outcome. A few had commented on its links to the countryside and this links well with my chosen genre as there are connotations of the English countryside with the folk genre. One commented it sounded like 'folksy, northern music' which is exactly what I was hoping for. I was immensely impressed with this answer as it is what I want for my brand identity. The band is northern and work within the folk/indie genre so it seems the name The Shires works well to establish this idea.

 

The template that got the most responses was template 2.

Although I didn't ask why they preferred it, one had commented it look simplistic, but suits the design of the cover and makes an impact. Again, this was what I wanted to hear, as my idea was to create a very simplistic design which reflected in the research into my genre. None of the album covers were over complicated or filled with imagery. I didn't want to use that design anyway as I thought it looked too overcrowded and would loose its impact. A more simpler design would, in my opinion, catch the audiences' imagination more as they can focus on the image and title without being distracted with the overload of content.

I chose to use imagery of a forest as the links further to the English countryside, an obvious connotation of the indie/folk genre. Another reason is because I plan to film in a woodland area for one of my scenes, so using this imagery for my album cover will be a nice link between the video and the print products. There are lot of woodland places where I can film, one being the local woods near my house and Hamsterley Forest. As I am filming in late October, I hope the weather will be suited to my idea as some of my shots will involve filming at sunrise where I hope it to be misty on some of the days when I film.

 

These images have been taken from Google and I hope that I can take some shots similar to this. If successful, I would use this as a double page spread for the inside of my digipack or even split the image in two, and use one for the cover and the other for the track list on the back of the album.

 

So this is a further analysis of my questionnaire as well as a little more insight into my brand identity. I will follow up this post with a theoretical look at my chosen genre as well as how I plan to make my music video link to the indie/folk genre, so stay tuned.

 

Until next time,

                         Toni

Change of Plans

I have decided to change the concept of my video from a dog running away from home to a middle age couple trying to-rekindle their childhood happiness with one another. A reason why I decided to change my idea is that it is more practical and using actual humans is more easier than using a dog. Although I would have liked the idea of the dog going on a journey, this idea is more manageable and would have a better outcome - the other idea was just too much of a risk. This concept still links to what I'm trying to achieve, it is still to have a non-serious narrative but I still want it to be heartfelt and entertaining.
I have a few shots in mind which I think will work well, such as the elderly couple playing in a kid's park, either on the swings or a seesaw (any children's play park will do). This will can be filmed at Chester Park in Chester-Lee-Street. however, this is a very public place and as mentioned in my last post, I want to avoid such places as I want to make the video an intimate impression as it focusses entirely on the couple together, nothing else is shown other than their relationship. There is also a local children's play area very close to my locations where I do plan to film so that would be the better option.
A lot of the video will consist of close up shots with the light of the sun glaring, so this would involve filming at sunrise and sunset as well as during the day. I plan to dedicate a couple of days in the half term to full day shoots of filming the couple on a walk, at the beach and around their house as well.
The main concept of the video is that the couple have spent all their lives together and although they still love each other, they are looking for some excitement to rekindle the spark of their childhood. This involves them finally saying goodbye to their children and exploring the world outside their backyard. Even though from my perspective they're walking through a forest and playing in a children's park, I hope to manipulate this by including a lot of slow motion shots and changing the saturation and contrast of the clips. Obviously this is just an idea in mind of how I want it to look. I know what shots I want to get but the aesthetic look of the shots will be something I have to play around with first and perhaps get some audience feedback on before I finalise the look of the shots.
So like I mentioned above, this will still link to the idea of poking fun at the indie genre as the couple will act like children in the play park and beach scenes. But instead of trying to make the audience laugh at the couple, I've decided I want it to be more heartfelt, allowing the audience to laugh but in a ore sophomoric way.
In terms of representations, the couple will now represent the youth - they crave the adventure and excitement that they no longer get from every day life and seek this 'on-top-of-the-world' feeling they get when partaking in such activities.

So that's the plan. As I've said, I want to have completed all planning by the 23rd October so that when I begin filming on the 25th, I will have a clear in my head as to what I need to film as well as how I want the shot to look.
And on a different note, I have made my final decision as to what song I have chosen to do and it is 'Sold My Soul' by Cattle and Cane. The tone of the song allows me to present my concept of a heartfelt couple and the style of the video gives me inspiration as to how I want my video to look.



I also plan to film in dark areas in relation to the lyrics which I will go into more depth in my storyboard post. The quality of the cameras is questionable in dark scenes, so I will be using a different camera when filming these scenes which I am comfortable filming with. This helps to show my progress from AS media as at this point in the course, I was only just starting to get to grips with the cameras at school whereas now I had familiarised myself with a Fujifilm camera which I have created my own customised setting so that I can film in dark places without loosing the quality in the footage.

So that's my final idea and I hope that the process of pre and production goes smoothly.

Until next time,
                          Toni

Retrospective Look

This post is a reflection on my AS coursework and comparing it to where I am for planning my music video.
In the run up to filming my opening title sequence, I spent a lot of time planning all the praticalities for filming such as the storyboard, prop lists, call sheets, mood boars etc. Now, I am at that stage where my planning is starting to come together however I would like to have been at a further point in my planning as to where I am now. In the next week it is my personal target to have completed my storyboard and production log, as well as finished scouting for my locations - I already have the locations in my mind, it's just a case of checking them over for any health and safety issues as I plan to film in the last week of October.
So far I have completed:

• research into my chosen genre
• deconstructions of album covers
• trial products of album covers
• trials of brand identity
• research into target audience with a use of a survey
• my pitch of initial ideas

In terms of research, I feel at A2 I have completed more resarch and looked closer at my target audience than I did for AS. For example, when planning for my title sequence I only researched other films in my genre, I didn't ask for audeicne feedback when creating mockups or even ask what my target audience perception's of the horror genre.
However, this year I have already created a mock up for my album cover and made a survey on SurveyMonkey for audience feedback. I have also researched music videos linked to my genre to recognise any key featues included in my chosen genre. My audience feedback allows me to tailor my brand indentity towards what my target audience would want, generating more popularity for my band.
so far in this academic year, i have already become accustomed to more technology and have learned more about the software i was using last year. For instance, at this point in my AS coursework I was only just starting to learn how to use Adobe Premier Pro whereas now I know all the features and can edit at a quicker rate whilst still retaining the quality. I am also learning how to use photoshop, a useful tool when creating my magazine advertisement and album cover. Because of my improved knowledge in these softwares, I am sure I won't as man ymistakes as I did last year. When i filmed for 'The Prisoner', there was a lot a editing mistakes that I hadn't realised until the final export. However, now I can confidently say these mistakes won't be made as I know where I went wrong and know how to fix it now.
When shooting, I will make sure my locationsa are easily accessible by foot as well as more desolute as when I was filming last time, it was in a public area and I wasted some time waiting for the people to move out of the shot. This time I know when my location areas are busy and work around that as well as filming in areas where there are less people. If my locations are unavailable, I have back up plans of where I can shoot as well which I know are empty and desolate. I will make sure that when I am filming, all my planning is with me so I can see what shots I want as well as making sure I use my time wisley in my locations gettting as many shots as I possibly can.

Now what I need to do is:

• blog posts linked to key concepts of the exam
• consideration/analysis of magazine adverts
• summary of my findings from my research
• planning for my music video (storyboard, production log etc,)

So there is my retrospective look at my work and planning so far. Obviously now I need to make sure all my planning is done within the next two weeks so that I am able to film come the 25th of October.
Until next time,
                         Toni

Questionnaire Results

First and foremost, thank you to all who answered my questionnaire. The results I received were fantastic and were just what i was hoping for.

Second of all, I have now gone through all the responses and categorized them - and here are the finishing results.

Branding questionnaire results from Toni Hendry

Until next time,
                       Toni

Questionnaire

As a part of branding, I decided to create a survey which will come in handy when evaluating audience feedback.
You can complete the survey below by following the link below. I have included some very basic mock ups of album covers which are by no means the finished result or are even the final design. I will go into more depth of my choices however in another post and link it to my previous research

Complete the survey here and pass on to your friends please as I would like as many response as possible
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SP5NGVS

Until next time,
                          Toni