Prop update and spendage

Siren lights - Ebay

Fishing net - Tom

Cricket bat - PE department

Fox mask - 

Black wig - Online

Spendage

Reece - £8

Bev - £3.68

Tilda - nothing 

Tom - nothing

Calendar

We made a calendar for the remaining months of the year to organise when we can all meet as a group. We made sure to write on every university visit, open day, holiday and working commitments so that there were no hitches when it came to meeting.

Our skills

In our group we have a wide range of skills and abilities. Tilda, Reece and Bev take art and used their knowledge and skills to draw out the storyboard, taking us only a day to complete it. Tom takes music, which has really helped us to establish what instruments we need for the performance and how to edit our animatic storyboard so the clips change on the beat. Reece and Bev each take an English which really helps with the planning side to our project, ensuring the blog is kept up to the date with text and multimedia posts.

Filming the performance

We asked permission from the PE staff to film in the Gym one day after school. We picked this location to film the performance element to our video because our projections will look effective against the pale walls. The room is also easy to access which will help us to set up the bands instruments quicker, leaving us more time to film.

Booking cameras

Today we booked cameras for this week and next week to begin our filming.

Disguise inspiration

Watching this music video gave us the idea of changing the black wig to blonde to make it stand out against the background in our video as Marina's does in this video, also we decided a fox mask would look better than a tiger as tigers are more known for being dominant and frightening where as foxes are more known as being sly, clever and mischievous which is what we want to portray in this character.

We also did a quick survey of indie fans in our media class and asked 'What animal mask do you think would look best on the lead male character?' Here are the results:

Black wig

I tried on the £1 black wig we bought to see if it was suitable for us to use. It appears to be shorter than what it was described to be on the packet.

Our plan now is to look online for a black wig that is slightly longer that we can use in our video.

Budget

Finished animatic story board

Here is our finished animatic story board<<

This will give us the basic timings we will use when cutting from different clips in our video. Today we showed this to the rest of the class to get feedback on our idea. It was commented that the idea seems a bit random and somewhat confusing, this is partly due to the ambiguous sketching but the story line will need to be simplified and made bolder so that the audience are aware of what is going on at all times. Others liked our use of varied shot types because it will make our video more exciting to watch.

Masks

Whilst in a fancy dress shop I found this selection of masks for £2.49 each. I bought the tiger one just in case we couldn't get a hold of a fox one.

Animatic storyboard

Today we scanned in our storyboard and cropped each frame on photoshop. To see them clearer, we boosted the contrast and saturation before ordering each frame and importing them into Adobe Premier Pro.

Filming schedule

Today I wrote up a filming schedule of the different scenes and locations they can be filmed on the same day, aswell as this I have wrote up a list of props and things to remember to bring on each day.

Each section I have separated we are hoping to spend a day each filming aswell as a day for the bands performance.

Camera Work in Submarine

Tonight I watched the film Submarine directed by Richard Ayoade from the IT crowd. It is my favourite film only because of the artistic shots used throughout. Because we are filming a music video of the indie genre I thought it would be a good inspiration source because many indie music video like the ones we have analysed have effective artistic filming techniques. It is filmed in Wales which means allot of dull sea side landscapes are pictured similar to that of the dull Whitley Bay sea side, so I thought many of the shots used in this film could inspire our video.

 

Extreme close ups of the male and female protagonist's faces could be used to show emotion and create a closer connection between the audience and the actors. Also a zoom in on the eyes could add emphasis to this effect as it does in the right screen shot.

A long 2 shot could be used to picture the couple walking along, the picture will be able to show them holding hands as well as more of the surroundings in which we want to emphasize to the audience because it is all about a dull boring location contrasting against the two eccentric looking and acting characters.

A mid shot filmed from the characters point of view through frosted/ stained glass would make for a very good artistic shot and would work well with the sirens showing through the window at the end of our video.

A two shot of the couple with tracking movement will show that they are going about life together as one and are a strong couple which will come across to the audience if we include a few of these two shots.

Wide shots like those above can be used to show all of the characters in shot getting across the main action to the audience quicker than if there was separate shots used for the same reasons. We could use shots like these to show the girl waiting outside the shop for the boy.

Mid shots of the individual characters are good to show them as individual people as well as a couple, also we can play about with what we include in the background to get a good artistic shot like the one above that works well because of the symmetry o the bridge above, an almost identical shot of the girl is used and these are cross cut nicely which we could possibly use in our video.

A two shot of our two main characters from behind looking out to sea is a good artistic shot that we could use for aesthetic reasons as well as illustrating the romance for the audience.

I liked this two shot from a side angle because it shows the couple together looking out to sea which we could do for our own video but we have had the idea of the boy being closer to the camera and the girl blowing a pink bubble next to him.

This framed shot is nice again for artistic reasons and we could do this with the car window when we film the couple sitting waiting in their disguises.

Final Story Board

Bellow is our finished story board, we have included timings and lyrics so we know how long each shot is to be on screen for and what lyrics it accompanies. Also we have included various notes of camera movement as well as names for the angles and shots we will be using.

Location spotting

[upload photos of ideas for locations]

- the promenade

- jesmond dene bridge, trees and field 

- rendezvous Cafe

- amusements

- skate park

- Reece's house

Costumes

I went wig shopping for the main female protagonist and came across this.  Unless we can find a longer one, this will be the wig we will use throughout the majority of the video.

The mask for our main male protagonist is going to be a fox: an animal commonly known in culture and as being sly and cunning.

Adam and Eve

The bible states that God forbid Adam and Eve to eat fruit from a certain tree in the Garden of Eden. This ideology parallels with our video because the couple succumb to the temptation of the fruit, despite being forbidden to touch it.

We have incorporated fruit, specifically apples, into our video to show a parallel between our characters and Adam and Eve. Our main female protagonist, steals the fruit and later eats an apple, insinuating the fall of woman as she succumbs to the temptation.

Final story idea

We decided against our first video idea because the narrative wasn't strong enough. After presenting the idea to the class and getting some feedback, it became apparent that the video wasn't appealing and the narrative wasn't clear enough to understand. After incorporating new ideas into our own, we realised that it was in fact the idea of the party that was holding us back. After taking time to rethink our storyline, we took out the party scene and added another protagonist - a girl. Our new idea is based on Breakfast At Tiffany's; the idea of a couple escaping their normal, 'dull' lives to do lots of crazy things together. We will aim for the video to be cyclical; beginning and ending at the same place. This will mean that the video will be subjective to the viewer and they can decide what actually happened.

Mise en scene (props and costumes)

Here is a list of our props and costumes we have decided upon having completed our initial story board.

We have decided that some items we may already have and therefore won't cost anything but we are all putting in £10 each to our fund which means we have a buying budget of £40 for props and costumes. We will keep record of how much we spend each by conversing in person and over our Facebook group we created, once we have bought everything we will split the remains equally back out between us.

Facebook Group

We created a private group on Facebook that only us four can access. We will use it to improve communication as we will be able to make a post which the rest of the group will see, instead of sending out a text to the other 3 members of the group. We will also use the Facebook page to upload photos or suggestions of props, locations and costumes to ensure that all members agree on what to use in the music video.

Theorist- Tzvetan Todorov

Todorov that the structure of a music video is as follows: the Initial balance> occurrence> new equilbrium

The handsome fella!

Therefore if we follow this structure the initial balance is our couple having fun messing around in their day to day life, the occurance is the violent argument they have and the new equilbrium is when they have made up having met up at the bench and swapped disguises back as they carry on having fun as normal.

The way our video slightly goes against this structure is at the end when the police sirens are reflecting through the window onto their faces which creates another scenario that we cut off at the end without showing the outcome. This is because we are filmingin the style of a short film as from our research we discovered this is the style of video our target audience likes to see in an indie music video so we are not following this conventional structure precisely because Indie music is supposed to be individual and different.

Narrative Codes

Narrative Codes used in our Video

The symbolic code will be used throughout our music video by showing artistic metaphors to show the characters lives. For example the disguises the couple will wear will represent them escaping their dull monotonous lifestyles and entering an exciting world where they are different people. The use of a grey bare room for the bedroom of the characters is symbolic because it represents their isolation against the rest of the world as if they are imprisoning themselves and shutting other people out.

We will use the semic code by showing the characters running around allot in free open spaces of the sea side, the connotations of this is that they are free spirits when they are in their disguises.

The cultural code will be used to create the characters' rough eccentric and youthful exteriors to create a stereotype of mischances young couples. The male will be wearing scruffy levi Jeans, a suede Jacket and scruffy doctor martens. The girl will be wearing a brown fur coat, scruffy doctor martens and a tartan skirt/dress. This will give the couple a typical old school British look of the youth shown in films such as Trainspotting, This is England and Submarine. The boldness of the 'orangey' suede jacket and the brown fur coat will stand out (as well as their eccentric costumes in general) against the dull scenery of Whitley Bay We will also include establishing shots of St Mary's Lighthouse as well as other sea side landscapes to connote a typically northern theme for the video. The lead singer will look exciting and slightly hippy looking to create a free spirit indie rocker stereotype to the audience.

Initial Story Board

Here is our initial story board, as you can see it is completely different from our initial idea we pitched to the class. We decided it was best to do so after reserving user feedback from our online survey. For example we now have male and female main characters rather than just a male because 64% of people surveyed said they like it when both are included. Also when we asked the question "What is your favorite indie music video and why?" a general summary of the answers given were that the story lines were all simplistic which allowed for artistic development as well as get the message across to the audience easily. Therefore we have changed our idea to a typical love story but with a slight twist which allows for artistic shots and edits.

One thing we have forgotten to do however is include the band's performance in this initial story board, we will make sure we do this in our final one as well as making sure there is an even balance as that is what 90.3% of people surveyed said they like to see.

Survey Analysis

With help from the internet, we managed to gather 31 completed surveys with helpful results that have caused us to change our idea and story line extensively. Here are the results:

 Because of the way we advertised our survey (social networking, at sixth form), the majority of people who completed our survey are of the same age as us which is our target age demographic for our media product.

There is a slight unbalance with the gender ratio but this was expected considering the survey was advertised openly online to any willing participants. This most won't matter too much as Indie fans often have similar tastes regardless of gender e.g. fashion.

This question shows that the mass surveyed like an even mix of both story and performance which is good to hear because this is a requirement from the brief and our story line follows this.

The majority of people surveyed said that they like both male and female lead rolls, this does not support our initial idea therefore we are considering a change to support this high demand and adhered to the indie music fans.

When creating the survey these locations where just a quick brainstorm of ideas to see what our audience thought but what we have decided from these results are than a park and a corn field are the most unpopular options therefore we won't film there. Urban street scenery was the most popular option which is good because we have some ideas that will incorporate these locations.

Which is your favorite indie music video and why?

A few of the favourite indie music videos were: Cassium- Foals, King and Lionheart- Of Monsters and Men, High Hopes- Kodaline, The horrible crowes- Behold the hurricane, Noah and the Whale- 5 Years Time.

Some of the reasons for these choices were: "It is unique and exciting", "The video offers an artisitic impression" "The story matches the tone and pace of the song", "it looks cool and interesting" and "it has a cute couple"

From these reasons we have decided that our new idea must be cool, unique and exciting for an indie audience, it must offer artistic representations such as metaphors, the story must be suited to the pace of our song and they liked cute indie couples. This has made us think that we will change our story to include an indie couple as they also like both male and female main characters.

This question received an very interesting result, the most popular response was that people said that the story line is important but as long as it is aesthetically pleasing it will still be a success. This is typical of an indie music fan. Therefore we have chosen to have a loose story line in which the couple have fun, argue in the middle and make up at the end but fill it with other exciting things that will make music video unique from others.

In your opinion, what is the main feature of an indie music video which defines it's genre? (e.g. Indie clothing, love story, heavily focused on the instruments etc.)

Here were a few popular responses:

Band and Instruments

Interesting locations

Strong performance

Indie clothing

Artistically filmed

Individual

Unique

A Story line

Symbolism

Love story

Ambiguous plot revealed at the end

Indie Mise-en-scene

From this question we have learned that we need include loads of shots the performance including instruments, perhaps more than we initially thought but this is what our target audience want. The costume choices will need to be picked carefully to please an indie audience (which means allot of indie clothing!) We will use symbolism to create artistic measurements and semantic codes. Also the locations will be chosen carefully so they are interesting and individual enough to please and intrigue our target audience.