First Day Filming

Wednesday 12th December was our first day of filming which proved to be very successful. We was able to film the first and last scene with minimal disruptions. Below you can see the outcome of what the protagonist looked like for the final scene (the funeral). We stuck to our initial idea of the bright pink contrasting with the black and the candy make-up and I feel it proved to be very effective and striking. 

On this day of filming, we encountered the issue of one of our actresses not turning up due to illness however, we had already known about this for approximately two days and was able to find a replacement. We organised to have one of our members filling in for the missing actress.

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Below you can see one of the props used in our music video. I made and painted this for my group and it proved to be a very important piece of equipment.

Edit Footage Step-by-Step

When uploading our footage, we noticed some of the shots were very dark and difficult to see. To overcome this, we used a piece of footage we did not need and figured out how to make it brighter. 

We came up with the following steps:
Brightness/contrast
colour correction
DO NOT USE LIGHT RAY
Colour corrector ('sat' all up)
gradient colourize (gradient mix)
RGB balance
Gradient mix

Rehearsal

Today we rehearsed the part of the music video with the biggest element of performance. This will make filming easier as we now know what we want and the actors know what to do. This will reduce time spent filming.

Call Sheet

Today I created some call sheets. I thought it would be a good idea to create one for each person we need in our music video, thus resulting in me creating seven addition call sheets. I also made one call sheet with all the information of all the actors/actresses for my group and I so we know who needs to be where and when they need to be there.

I included an 'other' column for any additional information that I felt was important for the actor/actress or ourselves to know.

Our Two-Column Storyboard

We have been working on our two-column storyboard for several hours and today we finished it. As you can see, we decided to turn it into a three-column storyboard by adding a third column entitled 'EMOTION'. We thought this would be a good idea as it will make it clearer what emotions the actors should be conveying.

Prop List

Today, two members of my group and I discussed what props we will need for our music video. We devised a list of all the things we will need and split them up between each of us.

Prop list:
Giant colourful lollipop
Bright pink dress
Grave stone
Flowers
Tissues
Pink hair spray
Drum sticks and drum
Guitar

Two-Column Storyboard

Today, we learnt how to use a two-column storyboard and created one ourselves. In doing this, I understood what is important in when creating a two-column storyboard such as clear action of shot, shot angles and editing notes. If all of these are consistent throughout a two-column storyboard, then when it comes to filming (and editing), it will be a lot easier to get things done. One reason for this is if you forget how you wanted to film something, you can refer back to your storyboard, and if it is clear and detailed in all aspects, you will be able to re-gain your idea again. Other aspects that are important to consider when creating a two-column storyboard are that you must storyboard the whole sequence of shots, but not necessarily each individual shot. It would also be useful to specify the lighting, special effects and sounds used in individual shots/sequences. Doing this would enable the editing stage to be simpler as all of the information will already be there for you.

Using this information, I drafted a practice two-column storyboard for the opening sequence of my music video. Once I did this, I gave it to a peer and asked if they were able to understand my idea and to write notes on what I did well and what I could improve on for next time. As you can see I received positive feedback on the clearness of my idea.
This was useful as a trial storyboard for the reason that I had forgotten to include the audio time slots for each slot which may have proven difficult when it came to filming, if this were the real thing.

Lyric Analysis

Why do people make music videos?

Today, I researched reasons why people make music videos and made a powerpoint document about it. Here are my results;

Copyright Permission

Today, I sent an e-mail to the people at Virgin Records to request permission to use Porcelain and the Tramps' song 'My Leftovers' which is my chosen track. I outlined my reasons for choosing this song and explained that the son will be placed on YouTube. By doing this, I have avoided the risk of copyright. 

Questionnaire Results

Questionnaire results (primary research

When looking at my questionnaire results, I found out that all my respondents like music videos that are funny with elements of drama, seriousness and romanticism. This is helpful as my group and I are planning to do a serious music video with funny elements in it.

I also found out that all of my respondents prefer to listen to energetic and fast paced songs rather than soft and slow paced, and since my chosen track is a very energetic song, I believe the audience will enjoy the track.

Some respondents told us what they believe is they most important thing about a music video, here are some of their answers;
'It has a clear narrative (if any) & fits with the lyrics.'
'Good editing, synchronisation with the music. Different effects. The band.'
'Than the video makes sense to the song.'
'How aesthetically pleasing it is.'
Using this information, we were able to come up with a pitch that consists of all of these elements, which is on the blog post named 'Pitch Idea'.

Secondary Research

As secondary research I looked at music artists with a similar image to my chosen artist (Porcelain and the Tramps) and found some ideas for costumes. Some artists I looked at consisted of P!NK and Avril Lavigne, here are my findings;

P!NK

P!NK is known for her aggressive style and image in her music videos. Songs such as 'So What' demonstrate this drastically. Her fans like her for this reason and the reason that she is her own person. One fan stated 'I love P!nk I mean who couldnt ? She had her first child and instead of making millions of the 'first picture' She released the picture to witch all proceeds went to charity. Her songs are her own heartfelt emotion, not someone singing pointless crap like 'its Friday friday'. I really think this women does not get enough credit for her work for charity or appreciation for her REAL music, which the industry lacks.' This particular fan explains their reason for loving P!NK, and as you can see, she is loved for her realistic songs about her personal life.
Another fan stated 'I liKE HER STYLE, but not her music' thus suggesting that the public are paying more attention to the image of the artist, rather than their music. This is something I plan to avoid when making my music video and creating a likeable and relatable protagonist by holding a focus group to find out what the public like and don't like.

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AVRIL LAVIGNE


Avril Lavigne is liked for her 'girly-punk' image. Many females look up to her and many males find her very attractive. There are websites on the internet that explain 'How to look like Avril Lavigne'. This shows that there is a large number of people that aspire to be like her so much that there is a website dedicated to how to look like her. 
Avril Lavigne has millions of fans all over the world and they all love her for various reasons. One fan stated 'I've loved her ever since like the sk8er boi and complicated days till now, I love her voice because she can really hit a lot of high notes and it's like different. I also love how she like in her late 20s and she still looks like a teenager LOL she's still one of my fav pop singers and I hope she gets married one day. She deserves it.' As you can see, this fan loves Avril Lavigne for her stylistic singing techniques and her young looking appearance.

Using these examples, I plan to give my protagonist a 'girly-punk' image with a sense of being mean, but not too mean. A young female will be used to uphold the idea of looking young and fresh-faced. Her personality will be the type of person who stands up for herself and isn't likely to submit to anyone.







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Costume Ideas

When taking this information on board, I searched for a number of types of costumes that I believe will suit the image I am trying to create.

Testing Chroma key

We have decided as a group to do a footage test using Chroma key.
We thought this would be a good idea as we are planning to use Chroma key in the editing stage of our music video and are planning to see how time consuming it will be.
We plan to shoot a short piece of film with bright colours so it is similar to they style of music video we are intending to do, thus giving us a clear idea of how much time will be spent on using Chroma key.

Pitch Idea

26/11/2012 - Today we came up with a pitch for our idea of the music video using Freytag's theory to help us. We had previous ideas to begin with such as an 'Alice in Wonderland' themed tea party, however we realised how difficult this may be for reasons such as permission to use a location and making it look professional. Due to this, we decided to go for a much simpler idea that we believe to be achievable. Our idea is this:
The protagonist will be on stage accepting the applause after just finishing her song.
The applause will then wake her up to reveal a teacher trying to wake her up from her daydream. (Here, it is revealed that she is in a lecture, not actually performing songs of any type)
The song will then start to play and she will be singing it very loudly and ferociously, however, no one in the lecture will be paying her any attention.
As the big climax, the protagonist will get out of her seat, run behind the curtain in the lecture room, and appear back on stage, singing the rest of her song with the band.
The audience will be her peers who were at the lecture room.
To finish the song and video, there will be a head shot of the protagonist and as she turns around, she sees herself sat in the lecture room, still in her seat, sleeping.
The bell then rings to show the end  of the lecture (and the song) and she wakes up to realise she was daydreaming again.

30/11/2012 - Today we altered our previous idea for our pitch due to the reason that we discovered the idea was very similar to Britney Spears' song 'Baby, One More Time'. Instead we came up with the idea of contrasting the loud attitude of the protagonist with a quiet/sad setting.
Our Finalised idea is this;
The protagonist will be on a date with her boyfriend and catch him flirting with an older woman on a different table.
Then it will cut to a different date where he repeats the flirtatious behaviour with a different woman and doesn't pay any attention to her. This is when she begins to sing the lyrics.
She storms off and he follows.
The protagonist will take her boyfriend home and begin to 'play fight' with him, which escalates into her killing him by hitting him around the head with a giant lollipop.
She then goes upstairs to get ready for an occasion that is not yet revealed.
Cut scene to snap shots of the funeral.
The protagonist is walking (whilst singing) in a field with the band and ends up at some kind of gathering.
Close ups of the girls mourning to reveal they are the girls he had been flirting with.
Cut scene of the protagonist replacing his ashes with the sherbet.
She acts sweetly-evil to the girls by giving them sherbet.
The camera moves back to reveal the occasion is her boyfriend's funeral.
It then ends with the protagonist licking her lips.

Research Plan

Today we made a research plan.
We decided to start with making ten questionnaires and asking five boys and five girls to answer them. The questions will be mainly focused on punk styled music videos and what they like to see in music videos as well as the artist.
Once the questionnaires are complete and we have analysed them, we plan to follow up with a focus group. In this focus group, we will ask up to 5 people who answered the questionnaires to listen our chosen song along with two other songs and ask them to choose which song they enjoyed the most. We will also show them a number of styles that are currently worn and ask their opinion on them. These will class as our primary research.

Once we have all of this information, we will begin to plan what we will do for our music video.
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18/11/2012 - Today we came up with a couple of ideas that we could place on our questionnaire.

Mood Board

This is my mood-board which I designed to give my group and I a clear idea as to what we intend to put into our music video. As you can see, it consists of bright colours and rebellion. This is the type of person I will be looking for when filming the music video.
When making the mood-board, I tried to keep in mind the way the song is sung by the original artist and added what I felt matched the song.

Chosen song

I have chosen the song, My Leftovers by Porcelain and the Tramps, for the reasons that it is a catchy and upbeat song. When listening to it, a number of unusual and unique ideas sparked that I feel will be interesting and give a parody feel. An example of these ideas are filming the band in a library to give it a sense of humorous contrast. For the music video, I already have an actress in mind for the main part who is an enthusiastic and willing drama and dance student.