Filming

This week I have filmed a few more scenes of my music video.  I plan to film some more of my video within the new year because of the weather conditions, however I have planned to film within the first week back which will be the Monday 7th January 2013.
The scenes I need to film are the ones where my artist is riding the horse and outside in the field.
Therefore to avoid health and safety hazzards I need to wait until the weather improves in the new year.

A few scenes completed

This is my first rough edit for my coursework, with the song National Anthem by Lana Del Rey.  I am aware lots of scenes are missing, however this is purely to show some of the scenes I have completed and to gain an insight into if I need to re-shoot any material. 
I also need to shoot some more footage outside, however with the weather conditions being bad at the moment I am waiting until the sky brightens up more to film hopefully as soon as possible in the new year.

Anciliary texts research

For my advanced portfolio, I am also required alongside my music video to create a webpage and digipak for my artist. 

I have been researching into Lana Del Rey's album covers and seen a few which I would like to take ideas from and base my work on.
Because this is the only album cover the artist has shot, I would like to carry out some test shots which are similar to this and see if they look professional.

Filming and final editing

Yesterday I filmed another scene in the green room.  I managed to get hold of one of my props which was a microphone on a stand from the music rooms in college.  This was very beneficial in getting some of my final scenes done and it worked really well.  I filmed my artist singing into the microphone and used suitable lighting and this made the scene look very good and professional.

Therefore today, I will edit this into my work and then upload some of the final scenes onto my blog.

During my production

In the past month I have filmed and edited most of the scenes for my music video.  I feel they are coming along really well and the short clips I have edited will soon be up on my blog.
However, due to the cold and snowy weather conditions some of the shots I have not been able to film, such as the ones where I require the artist to be in a field and also when she is riding the horse, as this could effect the artist and the horse's health and safety as it is very slippery and cold outside.
Therefore, I am editing and filming certain scenes indoors to ensure that main parts of my video is complete, and will complete the other scenes as soon as I can, hopefully over the Christmas period and if not very soon after.
I feel that the footage I have filmed in and outside of college is coming along really well and hopefully the final piece will be completed very soon.

For my shots, I have filmed in the green room at college, but with a white background and no main lights on, just a couple to create a really good effect behind the arist.  This highlights the artists emotions and I feel this is a really good way to portray the meanings of the song.

Today I am filming other scenes, and also re-shooting some scenes.  On one of the clips, I have realised that the white sheet background is visible in the corner of the shot, and therefore I need to position the camera differently and also ensure that it is in focus and zoomed in more.  (The video clips and shots will soon be uploaded)

Editing my scenes

Today I am editing together the scenes I previously filmed in college with the track.  I have used my storyboard to add the clips in the specific places.

Filming day 2 - scenes in college

Today I am filming scenes where the artist mimes yet more of the song.
The boy in the video is seen less in the shots because these are more about the artists.

Filming

Today and tomorrow I am filming more scenes in college where the artist mimes to the song but with a microphone on a stand.  I am trying to contact drama and performing arts teachers in order to try and book some props for the video, to try and make it look as professional as possible.
The same setting will be used for the video, but this time with the artist wearing different clothes and different cinematography such as extreme close-ups and mid-shots.

Settings

Settings on Prezi

Filming

Yesterday I filmed parts of my music video in college.  However, after emailing teachers and trying to book the theatre for the scenes where the artist is miming with the boy, I found out the theatre was fully booked and therefore had to improvise.
I got the two main artists into the green room and used a white background with the main lights off, with just two lights on stands switched on.
This gave a really good effect showing the shadows of the artists and also made the scene look professional.  Therefore, I have decided to change the idea of filming in a dark room to filming in the light room, as I feel it looks more professional and highlights the artists facial expressions and emotions more.

Booking out the theatre

 For filming some scenes, I required to film in a dark room with just one light to highlight the artist well, so I contacted my tutor who is a Dance teacher at college and deals with the theatre most of the time, and asked her if it was possible to film in there over one lunch time:

 

 

Roni directed me to email Andy who also deals with the theatre, and because my main artist also needed to use the theatre to film in for her music video, she emailed Andy to ask. Unfortunately because of the drama and dance rehearsals taking place at college, it wasn't possible for us to use the theatre, so I changed my ideas and then decided to film in the green room which I now feel was a much better idea because it looks a lot more professional.

Timetable for filming

Timetable for when I will be filming parts of my music video.

Friday 23rd November 2012 - Filming short scenes such as when the artist grabs drugs from the table and extreme close-ups of the artist's lips miming short words to the song. 

Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd December - Filming scenes at the stables (yard)

Week beginning from 26th November - Filming scenes in the college theatre (dark room).

Props

Props on Prezi

Costumes for my music video

Costumes on Prezi

Health And Safety Regulations

Locations

Some of the locations for my music video:

East Park and stables in Woodmansy

 

 

Animatic

Animated version of my storyboard -
Lana Del Rey - National Anthem.

Production Plan

For my advanced portfolio, I have decided to reconstruct Lana Del Rey's song National Anthem.
Analysing the lyrics of the song, it is clear that the main focus is about money, and I have interpreted this into my ideas and planning of what I aim to achieve when creating the video.

Cast:

• Lead Singer (artist) - Abigail Hardy
• Boy who accompanies artist - Joshua Littlefield
• Little girls in 2 scenes - Ginny (aged 10) and Madeline (aged 7) Sweeney (boyfriends sisters).

Setting:
For the setting of my video, I aim to shoot in several different locations.
The main locations include;

• A field (East Park) to shoot the artist by herself, with the boy and also little girls.
• The theatre (College) to shoot the artist and boy slow dancing and singing on her own, also where the artist and boy are seen drinking wine at a table.
• Horse stables (Woodmansy) to shoot the artist riding the horse and sitting on the horse.

Audience Profile

From doing research, I can tell that the main target audience of my music video would be female.  I can tell this by looking at the research I have gathered.
For example, on my polls, out of all of the people that have answered them, only one was male, therefore 99% are of a female audience. 

These images are connected to my genre quite well, as I feel the style of the people relates to the type of music they will listen to, which is indie.



Lana Del Rey - National Anthem Lyrics

These are the lyrics to the song I will be using for my music video:

Money is the anthem
Of success
So before we go out
What's your address?

I'm your national anthem
God, you're so handsome
Take me to the Hamptons
Bugatti Veyron

He loves to romance 'em,
Reckless abandon,
Holdin' me for ransom,
Upper echelon.

He says to "be cool" but,
I don't know how yet.
Wind in my hair,
Hand on the back of my neck.
I said, "Can we party later on?"
He said, "Yes, yes." (Yes.)

Tell me I'm your National Anthem.
(Ooh, yeah, baby, bow down,)
(Making me so wow, wow.)
Tell me I'm your National Anthem.
(Sugar, sugar, how now,)
(Take your body down town.)
Red, white, blue's in the skies,
Summer's in the air and baby,
Heaven's in your eyes.
I'm your National Anthem.

Money is the reason,
We exist.
Everybody knows it,
It's a fact. Kiss, kiss.

I sing the National Anthem,
While I'm standing,
Over your body,
Hold you like a python.

And you can't keep your hands off.
Me, or your pants on.
See what you've done to me?
Give me Chevron.

You said to "be cool" but,
I'm already coolest.
I said to "get real",
Don't you know who you're dealing with?

Um, do you think you'll buy me,
Lots of diamonds? (Yes, I also brought my gun)

Tell me I'm your National Anthem.
(Ooh, yeah, baby, bow down,)
(Making me so wow, wow.)
Tell me I'm your National Anthem.
(Sugar, sugar, how now,)
(Take your body down town.)
Red, white, blue's in the skies,
Summer's in the air and baby,
Heaven's in your eyes.
I'm your National Anthem.

It's a love story for the new age,
For the six page,
Want a quick, sick rampage?

Wining and dining, drinking and driving,
Excessive buying, overdosin', dyin',
On our drugs and our love,
And our dreams and our rage.

Blurring the lines,
Between real and the fake.
Dark and lonely,
I need somebody to hold me.

We will do very well,
I can tell, I can tell,
Keep my safe in his bell,
Tower, hotel.

Money is the anthem,
Of success.
So put on mascara,
And your party dress.

I'm your National Anthem,
Boy, put your hands up,
Give me a standing ovation.

Boy, you have landed,
Babe, in the land of,
Sweetness and danger,
Queen of Saigon.

Tell me I'm your National Anthem.
(Ooh, yeah, baby, bow down,)
(Making me so wow, wow.)
Tell me I'm your National Anthem.
(Sugar, sugar, how now,)
(Take your body down town.)
Red, white, blue's in the skies,
Summer's in the air and baby,
Heaven's in your eyes.
I'm your National Anthem.

Money is the anthem,
God, you're so handsome.
Money is the anthem,
Of success

Money is the anthem,
God, you're so handsome.
Money is the anthem,
Of success

Money is the anthem,
God, you're so handsome.
Money is the anthem,
Of success

Money is the anthem,
God, you're so handsome.
Money is the anthem,
Of success.

Shot comparisons

These images show the comparison between our version of the music video Party in the USA, and the real version of the video, and it also shows how close we are to achieving the right shots.

Evaluation of my music video.

For this task, I was required to deconstruct and reconstruct 30 seconds of a music video of my choice.  Working in a group of 5 people, the music video we decided to reconstruct was Miley Cyrus – Party in the USA. 
The task in my opinion was a great way to gain confidence editing the video in preparation for my future music video which I will be creating, and also it boosted my confidence for performing in front of the camera for the project.  This was a good aspect of the construction of the video.
However, we did experience a few problems as a group trying to shoot the video.  When watching the real music video in which we were basing ours on, we realized that the video had to be shot in sunlight, therefore it was very weather dependent. 
In the music video, Miley Cyrus wears a short t-shirt and shorts, with brown cowboy boots.  Therefore, to make the video look as professional and as near to the real video as possible, we had to ensure that the cast looked as similar to the real cast as possible.  With me being the main performer in the video, I brought the clothes which I filmed in to college every day so we could film, and so that there wasn't an issue with continuity, which was a good aspect of the group work.
Also, the video had to be shot in a car park, using someone’s car for approximately 5 seconds.  We realized that if we used a car park, we couldn't use the college one because all of the cars were other teachers’ cars which we couldn't include in the video.  We also had to ensure that the car park looked fairly dusty and full – which we thought would also be a problem.  We finally came to the conclusion that we could shoot the video in several different locations depending on the type of shot, and edit the video making the continuity look good – which is another good aspect of working as a group.  We met up at the KC stadium car park on a Wednesday after college, which is when we all finished early, ensuring that the video got done, and all of the cast and the extras came along to film and perform, which was a really good atmosphere.  We then had to use our media teachers’ car, which is exactly like the one in the real music video, which he helped us to film one lunch time, which got done very quickly as we were aware of what we had to do.
The editing in total took approximately 3 days, for 30 seconds of footage.  We split the tasks up within the group, and all got to experiment with the editing and filming etc, which gave us all an idea of how to work both the camera and the editing suite – which was the good thing about working in a group, was that we all shared the tasks equally.  There were luckily no problems with editing our music video, because we had storyboards present whilst we were doing it, ensuring the two videos looked as identical as possible and all of the shots were in sync with the music and timing. 
This also helped develop our time management skills, because we prepared well and decided each day what we were going to be doing.  This helped us a lot, as we finished on the deadline which was very important. 
The camera setting didn't take very long, as we tried to get as much help as we could.  We got information on how to set up the camera, how to use the tripod to gain still shots, and how to do tracking shots etc, which came in very useful.

We also had a low angle shot at the beginning of the music video where the main artist steps out of the car, and we had to hold the camera really high up when it was attached to the tripod, which was a new experience for us also and gave us experience of using the camera. In total, the camera setting took about 5 minutes every time we set up and used it, which didn't effect the time we had to film or the filming itself really, as we were eventually aware and confident in what we were doing and how to set it up.
I learnt many things from this process of reconstructing a music video.  Firstly, I learnt how to edit the music video, as I thought I wouldn't be good on the editing suites.  I had practice, and eventually learned how to do it, which gained my confidence and now I feel I have learnt skills in order for me to edit my next music video in the future.

The main thing I learnt during this process of creating a music video is that planning is the most essential factor in getting the task completed on time and to a good level.  Because our group planned the storyboards, setting, and time management so well, we got the task completed on time and to a very good level which we were all very proud with.  

Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Miley Cyrus - Party In The USA

This is our reconstruction of Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA.

Screenshots of Party in the USA

Production Plan

These are the times in which my group have planned to produce and film our 30 second storyboard.

It includes a timetable of the days during college hours that we are free, and also when we are free to film our storyboard on the weekend also.

Wednesday 3rd October:
3pm - KC Stadium Car Park to film the whole video (if weather is ok)
Everyone needed to attend>

Props:
John's car for the video.

Costumes:
Everyone needed to wear summer clothes like in the video
Charlotte - wear cowboy/brown boots like the video.

Deconstruction and Reconstruction of a Media Text

Charlotte Hemsworth - Cast
Kiera Pollard - Camera
Abigail Hardy - Director
Becky Foster - Editing
Lauren Murphy - Producer
Autumn Calver - Cast
Mason Lawn - Cast

Miley Cyrus - Party In The USA.

Lana Del Rey- Born to Die Lyrics

Feet don't fail me now
Take me to the finish line
All my heart, it breaks every step that I take
But I'm hoping that the gates,
They'll tell me that you're mine
Walking through the city streets
Is it by mistake or design?
I feel so alone on a Friday night
Can you make it feel like home, if I tell you you're mine
It's like I told you honey

Don't make me sad, don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough
I don't know why
Keep making me laugh,
Let's go get high
The road is long, we carry on
Try to have fun in the meantime

Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane
Choose your last words
This is the last time
Cause you and I, we were born to die

Lost but now I am found
I can see but once I was blind
I was so confused as a little child
Tried to take what I could get
Scared that I couldn't find
All the answers, honey

Don't make me sad, don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough
I don't know why
Keep making me laugh,
Let's go get high
The road is long, we carry on
Try to have fun in the meantime

Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane
Choose your last words,
This is the last time
Cause you and I
We were born to die
We were born to die
We were born to die

Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane

Don't make me sad, don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough
I don't know why
Keep making me laugh,
Let's go get high
The road is long, we carry on
Try to have fun in the meantime

Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane
Choose your last words
This is the last time
Cause You and I
We were born to die
We were born to die

Skills Development Essay

Media – Skills Development Essay.

Before I started Media Studies, my skills of the terms weren’t detailed and weren’t very good.  I had little understanding of what the key terms meant, but feel now I have completed the first year, my skills and knowledge have developed.
Over the first year, the main task (foundation portfolio) was to create a music magazine, and create the artist, with a front page, contents page and double page spread.  When my skills weren’t fully developed I thought I wouldn’t be able to achieve this before the deadline and thought I would struggle with it, however, after revising all the key terms and having lessons on Photoshop, my skills developed and I became a lot more confident using it. 
My skills using digital technology such as cameras was always good, as I am quite alert and confident when dealing with technology; however I had to learn all of the different types of camera angles and shots so I could apply them to my magazine.  When I revised these terms, I could then put them into practice when shooting photographs.  I learnt that there must be enough room above the artists head and around their body in order for me to apply text around the image for the front cover.  I also learnt how to edit photos on Photoshop.  For example, if the artist needed their skin re-touching, I used the tools offered on Photoshop to solve this problem and my magazine cover began to look more professional. 
At first when I started to use Photoshop, because I wasn’t as familiar with it, I didn’t really look forward to using it much.  However, when my skills developed more, I had lessons on it and I became more familiar with it, then I enjoyed using it as it made my work look more professional to resemble a real magazine.  I also liked the way you could re-position text and images across the page and have the different layers above certain others, which allowed the magazine to become really defined to my own taste and represent my genre well.
My creativity skills before starting the course were not great, as I am not that good at art and some other creative subjects.  However, after learning and becoming familiar with media as a subject, it has allowed me to gain more of a creative side, and now I know that the skills I used in the first year can be applied to the second year (my advanced portfolio) and will help me be creative in making my music video.  I am also quite creative when it comes to English as a subject, and this allowed me to be able to write good articles for my magazine on the double page spread which is a good aspect.
The research and planning side of the foundation portfolio was interesting because I got to research lots of other magazines and photos etc.  This allowed me again to gain more creativity and I also gained inspiration so I could base my magazines on some I had already seen.  I had to research magazines with the same genre as mine, which was mainly indie and alternative music, so magazines such as Q and NME came in very useful when looking at the layout, images, text and more features.
When researching these magazines, I made lots of notes and PowerPoint slides of the features that the publisher included in their magazine such as what text was included on the front of the cover of the magazine, and what text was included on the contents page and the double page spread, and I applied this information to when I was creating my magazine to ensure it looked as professional as possible and resembled a real magazine. 
After I had created the first drafts of my front cover, contents page and double page spread of my magazine, I gained the feedback on them.  After looking carefully at aspects of my magazine that I had to change, I decided to change the artist and the name of my magazine.  My artist became more suited to the genre, by the colour clothing that she wore on the photographs and by the expression on her face etc.
I also changed the name of the magazine to again something more suited to my genre.  This then made the magazine more appealing to the genre, which could then hopefully attract a wider audience.
Also, during the post-production, I created a questionnaire to try and gain feedback to see if there were any other features I could change.  I included questions such as ‘what genre do you think the magazine represents?’ and ‘what age group do you think it aims at?’  And when I gained my feedback, I realised that the changes I made after receiving the first feedback were suited more to the genre, and I felt as if I didn’t have to change much on my magazine.  I did however change around some of the colours and text, and moved some images around to make it more suited, just as some last little changes.
I used conventions of real media texts in my articles included in my magazine, to try and make the magazine seem as professional as possible.  The research where I looked into real media magazine such as Q and NME came in useful, as I looked at articles which were included in those and then interpreted them into my magazine.  The research therefore influenced me into what I could include on my front cover as stories, as well as the contents page and the double page spread text.

I feel that during the first year of Media Studies, my skills have developed dramatically, as I feel more confident in using programmes now and I feel I can be more creative when creating tasks.
I feel that I will be able to apply my skills to create a very professional looking music video for my advanced portfolio task.

Influencial Media Texts

The following videos which are posted below relate to my genre very well. I feel that by watching these videos, the audience can tell that the music is from the same genre and includes the same conventions. Therefore I feel that these types of media text are influencial to my music video.

The first video is Birdy - Skinny Love.  I feel this is influencial as some of the cinematography used is very similar to the type of shots Lana Del Rey would include in her videos.  The second video is Florence and the Machine - Rabbit Heart.  The most similar thing about this video is the type of music used, it is very similar to the type that would be included in the music video of my choice.  Finally, Nancy Sinatra - Bang Bang is very influencial to my music video.  Lana Del Rey often resembles Nancy Sinatra in her music videos by her image and style of singing.

 

Birdy - Skinny Love

 

 

 

Florence and the Machine - Rabbit Heart

 

 

Nancy Sinatra - Bang Bang

Summary of my summer work.

Over the summer, I completed tasks which helped me get a further insight into my chosen genre and gave me ideas for my music video.
I researched music videos of my chosen genre which is indie and posted videos on my blog.  Looking at the way the music videos were constructed and the colour schemes etc, it gave me further ideas into how I wanted to create mine. 
I also created a storyboard of one minute of a music video, sketching each shot of the video and explaining the main conventions such as cinematography and mise-en-scene.  I then uploaded this also onto my blog, to give evidence. 

Storyboard of a music video

 This shows my storyboard of Lana Del Rey's song Blue Jeans.  It is the first minute of the music video, and I have described the conventions of the music video which are important, such as the cinematography, and the mise en scene.  Most of the shots cut from one to the other, to show quick scene change and movement.

Conventions of my chosen genre

Within this genre, there are many conventions included within the music videos which make them represent the genre well.

Cinematography - Indie music videos tend to include many long shots, close-ups and mid shots.  This is to create emphasis on the artist, locations the video is set, and the emotions.  However close-ups aren't only used to show the emotions of the artist, they can also be used to emphasize the words of the song with the movement of the lips of the artist.  The movement of the camera also plays a big part in the music video.  It is used to follow or trace the artist in the video.  Camera movements include tilts, pans, and tracking shots.

Editing - Within the editing of a video, jump cuts are the most predominant editing technique used.  This is because it allows one sudden change from one scene to another.  Similarly, transitions such as fades and dissolves are very common in the videos as it creates a different effect for the audience.

Mise en Scene - The mise en scene of a music video refers to the arrangement of performers and props on a music video.  It also shows the importance on the representation of something. Music videos from this genre for example would include pathetic fallacy where the weather effects the mood.  Also, the costumes/clothing the performers wear can effect the mood of the song and the atmosphere etc.

Sound - Within this genre, the sound is usually the same to other genres. The song is usually non-diagetic because it is a soundtrack, so whilst the video is being filmed, the artists cannot hear it.  However, to the audeince it is asyndetic sound because they can hear it.

Details on the genre

The genre in which my chosen music videos fall in are mostly indie/alternative.  The artist Lana Del Rey is very individual and I feel that this type of music is becoming more popular in today's society.

There are many other artists/songs which fall into this category because of the idea of it becoming more popular today, for example artists such as Birdy, Florence and the Machine, and Marina and the Diamonds. All of these artists fall into the indie/alternative category.
The following video is also included within the category, by Birdy who is similar to Lana Del Rey:

Birdy -Skinny Love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNzCDt2eidg

Music video details of song/artist

Thinking about the features of my music video, I have decided to use a song by the artist Lana Del Rey.  I have a possible two songs in which I would like to use, as I feel they are both good and both fit in with my genre well.  
I like the artist Lana Del Rey because I feel she is different and I feel it would be interesting to re-create one of her videos.  I like the individuality and feel that I could hopefully try and re-create it to achieve a good music video.  The following two videos are the ones which I am taking into consideration:

• Lana Del Rey - Blue Jeans  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRWox-i6aAk&feature=relmfu
• Lana Del Rey - Video Games  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE6wxDqdOV0&feature=relmfu