Audience feedback of rough edit

On Thursday production week 5 we allowed people to watch our rough edit and provide us with some feedback on what worked and what needed improving upon.

Rianna was the first to give us feedback, it was mostly positive but did provide some key ideas to improve upon along with some views of her own. Throughout the areas of assessment (Mise en scene,cinematography etc) she scored us between 3-4 for the level of the current work. One suggestion she made for the improvement of Mise en scene was to increase costume change as she felt it was plain and could have stood our more however this subverts the stereotypes of Indie Rock music video's as often they're no changes through a whole video but we did take her suggestion aboard as after reviewing the band scene ourself and deciding that when we re-shoot were shoot in white t-shirts so during the edit we can have the tops colours changing to add flaire to the performance of the band. Another suggestion for the mirco aspect cinematography was she felt the camera movement was to static and didn't move enough contradicting the track as its very lively. However a positive for creativity and appeal to target audience she put down was that she enjoyed the concept of the video and liked the realism in the video as felt she could connect to the man's journey in her own life. However a suggestion for representation of artist(star persona) was that we neeeded alot more shots of the band and the lead singer to improve their image as in Indie Rock they are almost always a figure head in the video. This was some good feedback we needed and has gave as a lot to think about throughout the winter break even though we will be working on it continusly

Re-shoot tube scene

 These are two screen shots of recent footage we shot after reviews on our initial tube journey scene and were suggested to film more footage for our music video as variety is needed not to bore the audience.

 This is one of the shots we used, its a POV shot of our running mans journey. This scene is meant to show the different segments of his journey and how far he is actually traveling. After uploading the shots and watching them between us we decided not to use this piece of footage as we didn't like the shot and felt it didn't suit the image we are trying to portray.

We used a mid shot on the door and increased the speed to the real footage in the edit allowing us to show the journey but not waste video time.

Production Week 4

This week we need to produce our rough edit of the music video we have been creating and show it to our teachers and peers for some constructive feedback on how to improve on it and move forward with our idea. We also would like to finish all our filming including re-shoots but recognise that this would be difficult and unlikely with regards to the band scene however this should be completed before we return from our winter break.

On Monday we continued editing our footage and started updating our group blog with more recce shots and a more detailed production weekly log to help show the work we do behind the scenes and rarely show.

On Tuesday we planned out the shooting schedule for Wednesday and went through our current footage discussing what we thought needed re-shooting and changing. This was time well spent as it has opened our mind to more creative ideas and gave us a chance to evaluate our performance in this task so far.

Once Wednesday came around we was organised and already to go. We went straight out filming and managed to get the scenes we planned to, plus a couple more which was needed but unplanned Eg. the Tube station exit scene. After shooting this we continued with the project by uploading the new footage and deciding on the shots we do and don't like, before importing the files to our current video and carrying on with the edit. While this was happening we also worked on our blog as we attempt to keep it up to date.

As we had already completed the filming we needed to do this week Thursday meant a day of just editing and reviewing our work and getting some audience feedback on the rough edit of our work so we could think about these ideas over the holidays and improve on our work upon returning in the new year. This was a productive day as it gave us a insight in to what needed to be changed/added to improve this piece of work. Overall we recieved positive feedback from our audience on our current work as they seemed excitied to watch the finish piece.

Production Week 3

This week we have managed to shoot the bulk of video including the band scene and numerous running scenes. While this overview sounds good after watching the shot footage we have noticed that we will need a number of re-shoots especially focused towards the band shots as it looks unprofessional and doesn't convey the image we wish to show.

On Monday we traveled to South Bank where we shot a number of different clips for our music video we also took some photo's of the area to give us ideas for our digipak. While traveling to and from the South Bank on tube we decided to take some shots of our protagonist in the station and on the tube to add a variety of locations to our work. We are currently undecided on weather or not to use these shots but it is a good problem to have.

For Tuesday we began uploading and basic editing our previous days footage, we also planned out what we aimed to do on Wednesday as we didn't want a repeat of last week and fail to shoot any footage.

On Wednesday we went to ashburton park in croydon and filmed some running scenes, while in croydon we also visited Aaron's house and filmed a few shots of the band and also the beginning of the running mans journey. It was a productive day but took a little longer then expected however we are happy we have completed the majority of the filming and will only need to shoot a few more scenes plus re-shoots.

During Thursday we brought back the equipment from yesterdays shoot and uploaded the footage in our only free period of the day. Then throughout our lesson we began editing these scenes and trying to sync them to our selected soundtrack. Straight away we noticed that more scenes would be needed to improve the quality of the video along with some re-shoots to try and perfect what we already have.

Original shots of Band

These our the initial pictures we plan to incorporate into our digipak however on review we will most likely take some more to give us more options as we think we can take better pictures which match and connect with our target audience more.

Reece shots of Ashburton park

These our a few reece shots of ashburton park, we took these shots as we plan to use these different locations throughout the music video to show the man's journey. We wanted our video to feature a park as the majority of our video is running and didn't want to bore the audience with limited locations.

During our video we wanted to have numerous people planking throughout to break up the video and add a comedic level this also gives the video a rewatch-ability as it creates enigma and makes people ask why and who are these people. In these shots the planker is on a bench however for the actual video footage we opted to change location slightly and have the planker, planking across the parks path way disrupting the running mans journey.

This shot of the bridge adds another location to our music video as we attempt to keep our audiences interest it also connects to our target audience as a block is shown in the for background linking to our bands urban roots.

Font Ideas for Band title

 While researching into artists posters and digipak's we noticed that they all had different types of fonts which stood out and linked in with the band or artist in their own ways. Because of this we decided to look for a number of different fonts so we could then decide on the best one for our group.

These are just a few font styles we have been experimenting with for use in our Digipak and Poster. We have learnt while doing this research that their is a large varitey of fonts available online which anyone can access and use. This has been time well spent as we are now well imformed about font and other typography styles.

weekly planning and schedules for filming

Reece shots of band room for music video

This is the location we wanted to use for the band to perform to make this location accessible we had to tidy it up and remove a number of items.

This is the room after we had cleared it up. It suits our genre as its simple and plain linking into the social classes our band caters for. The simplicity of the room puts added focus onto our band as the background offers no distractions.

Idea Feedback

 

This is the feedback we received after showing our pitch

Reece shots of tube station for music video

These are a couple reece shots of the tube station we plan to use during our music video.
We picked this tube station as it was local and easily accessible as we may have to re-shoot some footage and wanted reachable locations to make sure we could create the best video possible.

After taking these photo's we asked people who met our description of our target audience and got feedback of how they reacted to the location and if it met expectations.
The feedback we received was all positive as they felt it matched their expectations, they also said they could connect to the video as they also use the tube in daily life. Another positive comment we received by numerous people was how the use of London transport linked to the social classes we aimed at.

Production week 2

This week we have planned to do the bulk of our filming, to allow us time for re-shoots after editing our footage.

On Monday we should be taking some reece shots at a local tube station and getting feed back from our target audience. We also should be taking some practice shots and asking our audience if they think it conforms to the genre we are trying to portray.

On Wednesday we have planned to shoot all the bands scene and the beginning of our protagonists ("The running man's") journey then will hope to edit this on the Thursday.

Due to some set backs we have not shot any footage this week and have only taken reece shots which we have explained on the blog, after failing to shoot on Wednesday we planned to shoot the tube station scene on the following day but had to cancel it due to weather conditions as we felt it didn't suit the mood we wanted to portray throughout our video and offered a juxtaposition.

However besides these set backs we have managed to gather some reece shots and target audience feedback.

Today (Thursday) - We will be annotating our reece shots and target audience feedback. We will also be planning our schedule for the next production week so we can get underway and start some editing.

On Friday we plan to do some more work on our blog as we cannot film any footage and don't want to be wasting our time completely.   

Production week 1

This week we have mainly been organizing and sorting out our filming schedule and props needed for next weeks filming as we plan to get the bulk of the work out of the way during the first week.

We have also gone on a few reece shoots to find out how the locations we wish to use will work out for our actually project.

Reece shots for music video

our music video anamtic

digipak

recee shots and locations

poster for retrospectives

Theoretical approaches in our video

Throughout this video we use a number of techniques and styles to create meaning and enhance the viewers enjoyment as we attempt to give it playback-ability. One example of this is the intertextual reference to Radiohead's song "Just" as like in their video we will have people laying down for no known reason. We chose to do this because it adds another layer of enigma to the video making the audience want to rewatch the video repeatdly to try and understand.

During this video only the band and our protagonist are used throughout with females only being used as extra's for the street scenes, where they will only feature for a few second. This means there is no objectification or voyeruism used in our video towards either sex. We opted to subvert stereotypes on music video's as it would increase our target audience for the video as males and females would be able to enjoy. Another trait often found in modern music video's we don't use is enpowerment, the reason for this is because we wanted to keep the number of people involved to a minimum for schedule reasons and also didn't think the track suited that particular trait.

Throughout the video we will use a number of principles Goodwin outlined in his theory of music videos. For example along with the intertextual reference there will be links between the lyrics and the visuals amplifying what is being sang compared to what is actually happening however this doesn't happen the whole time and often they contradict or have no relevance to what is being sang. This is because our video will be a mixture of conceptual and performance. The performance will come from the band playing their instruments.

Practice Stop Motion

Shot List for music video

1. close up on guy waking up 2 secs
2. point of view of alarm clock 1sec
3. mid-shot falling out of bed 1sec
4. long-shot cuts to the band in a small sized room 4secs
5. close up of lead singer 4secs
6. zoom out to full band
7. mid-shot cuts back to guy getting up from the floor
8. low angle shot running out of the room
9. rushing getting ready
10. close up of him getting tooth brush etc
11. match on action of opening front door
12. low angle opens door and looks at planker
13. back to the band birds eye view
14. low angle of guy jumping over planker and camera
15. point of view of guy running 
16. over the should of time ellipsis of cars driving past
17. eye line match of guy looking at all the plankers on the over side of the road
18. guy shakes his head then looks back to see if there all gone
19. long take of guy running away from camera
20. band close up of each instrument and person while there playing
21. establishing shot of tube station
22. tracking shot of guy running into the station
23. long shot of guy running down stairs
24. same shot type but camera in a different place
25. guy goes to walk-through the barrier but sees people planking on top of them
26. long shot of band with planking istop switching positions multiple times
27. cuts back to guy running up escalator 
28. close up on guitar
29. cuts back to guy mids-shot on him running
30. close up on drummer
31. cuts back to guy mids-shot on him running
32. wide angle on band energetic performance 
33. cuts back to guy, high angle shot
34. zooms out from birds eye view getting further

Props :

• Mic and Mic Stand
• Drum set
• Guitar
• Toothbrush
• Bed
• Alarm Clock
• TFL
• Costumes

Equipment :

• Camera
• Tripod
• Dolly

Genre Study - Codes and Conventions of Indie Rock

Through numerous amounts of research into my music video’s genre of Indie Rock I have noted a number of codes and conventions throughout the genre, followed by most bands however like anything they are on occasion also subverted which is to be expected. For example in cinematography I have found it common that the shots used often feature the band with empathises on the lead singer.

You can denote this in the picture below of the Arctic Monkeys performing ‘I bet you look good on the dance floor’. They used a close up on the lead singer (Alex Turner) connoting his dominance while we can just about see the drummer over his shoulder. Focussing on the lead singer is also a common trait I have noticed while watching and analyzing indie rock bands.

Another convention of Indie Rock music video’s is that bands often make performance  video’s however it is not unheard of  for an conceptual video to be made, a good example of this is another Arctic monkey’s song titled ‘fluorescent adolescent’. While the music video is conceptual at parts the song lyrics are amplified through the on screen actions for example the song is about the past and during the video it cuts back to two old friends and how they used to be.

 

Indie Rock videos also tend to stick to basic but effective shot types as they are mostly used so the audience can denote the band instead of other music video’s with narratives that try to evoke emotion from the spectators. The shot types used across the Indie Rock genre consists of mainly close ups, mid shots, wide angle shots and panning shots moving across the band.

Throughout this research I have also noticed some codes and conventions within the editing of Indie Rock music videos. Indie Rock songs often have a change of pace during the tracks which enable a mixture of fast and slow pace editing to match the tracks tempo, this helps to keep the audience interested in the video and offers play-back ability as the audience may not notice everything the first time round.Another trait of editing within the Indie Rock genre videos is that the camera happens to cut between shots frequently keeping the audience entertained.

The mise en scene conventions of Indie Rock are probably the least challenged as this micro aspect offers the look and identity of the band. For example Indie Rock bands are known for casual clothing with limited costume changes during their videos normally numbering zero.

Another convention of Indie Rock videos is the use of low key lighting creating shadows. This creates a sense of enigma for the audience and also connotes them being isolated from other music genre’s it also connotes them as being different from your typical boy band.  This is also a convention of Indie Rock music to stand out and be different from other mainstream genres.

Props also play an important role in Indie Rock videos as the band member are commonly seen playing their instruments while and not to do so would subvert the audience expectations. A reason why Indie Rock bands like to be seen playing their instruments is because is connotes them as being real musicians instead of industry made stars who offer none to limited musical talent.

While it is common for these videos to offer a number of locations, conventionally the bands are only seen performing in one location however this changes depending on the actually video. They are also typically made on low budgets which links back to the idea of them being independent (“indie”) and different from the big labels however since the 00’s a number of bands have crossed over to the majors with the increase in internet helping their exposure, the first most notably band to do this was the Arctic Monkeys.