FIlming - Day 3

We found a little section of road that had no entry signs, which was useful to my music video. So me, Mr Meade and Halimo set down there to film. We didd a few shots with them filming from different angles and then me filming wit the head camera (as i have practised, came a lot easier). We then moved a bit closer to school to film through the windscreen of Mr Meade's car, this was successful after a few attempts as we couldntget the bottom of my feet in due to me not wearing the same shoes.

Filming - Day 2

As it wasn't raining we decided to film. we filmed on the road just outside school and the green next to the school.
As there was me and two others we decided to get the same shot from different angles so when editing we could intertwine them and it could look effective. Once we started and did a trial run we realised you could see the other camera at the end of the shot, to resolve this problem we got camera 1 to go on the corner just outside of camera 2's shot.
It was also our first time filming wit the head camera, it took a couple of trials to get it reasonable. The first shot was to high all you could see was the sky, the second trial was to low and you only see the floor, but the third trial was lucky we got it at the right height and the footage looked good.

Filming - Day 1

Rehana, Felicity, Mr Gibbs and myself filmed at my house. We started off inside filming basic over the shoulder shots, whilst i sat at a table. One of the legs were broken so we were unable to raise the tripod to its full height, which caused problems but we worked around this at went at it from a different angle. Once we finished filming inside we moved outside and started filming the opening of the music video. Mr Gibbs said it would be a good idea if we got the same shot from loads of different angles, so that i had options when editing. I will take this idea and use it every time i film.

Camera Device

Firstly i would like to apologise for the lack of new posts in the past few weeks. My Drama A-level performance has been very busy as my performance was at the beginning of the week, as the performance is over my attention will now be going into this project. In my spare time i have been building a device for the camera to go on so it can be placed on my head so i can film from my perspective. 

Whats been happening so far...

So far i have been drawing my storyboards, they are almost completed in full detail and once they are finished i am going to create a sample of my music video using the stills from my storyboard. This will give me a simple outline of how my music video will look and also to see if what i have chosen goes with the beat of the song.

Instiutional research

Reprise

Reprise was founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra himself, and it is owned by Warner music group. Frank Sinatra formed this label in order to allow more artistic freedom for his own recordings, fellow rat pack members Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. also moved to this label Frank Sinatra recruited a host of his own cronies for the label. After Sinatra’s death in 1998 it had great success with his greatest hits.

One of Sinatra’s principles is that each artist has full creative freedom and at some point complete ownership of their work, including publishing rights, this is the reason for most early Reprise artists (Dean Martin, Jimi Hendrix) are currently distributed through other labels.

Today, in addition to Young, it is home to such artists as, Oasis, Michael Buble, My chemical Romance, Eric Clapton. Reprise is also the North American label for British band Depeche Mode.

Product Research

Michael Buble - 'Home'
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fDQnkYwfNfk

This was the only music video that had a narrative, the story was about the main character (Michael Buble) and the feelings he goes through after loosing someone important to him, he walks around an empty theatre and keeps imagining her there with him.

The camera shots varied most in this music video. It started with a long shot slowing zooming in on the character, which allowed the audience to understand the setting and get to know who the main character is. Once we as the audience have established the main character the camera shots become a lot closer mainly close-ups on the characters face showing his emotional journey through the song. At the most dramatic place in the song there become a lot more mid-shots, these shots show the whole of the main character as well as some of the mise-en-scene. It is helpful at this point in the song as the main character is showing a lot of hand gestures, as it is the most dramatic part of the song. These camera shots are commonly used in a love song as identifies the most important parts of the song and its narrative.The shots were of long duration that matched the pace of the song making it a lot easier for the audience to understand what was happening.


Ray Quinn - 'Smile'
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lMuMkMrAdHc

This music video was all in black and white I felt it was affective because even though it was made in present time the black and white theme made it seem present to the time the song was originally released. This is a key factor I need to take into account when making my music video.
During the music video it became a split screen one side was a c/u of the singer whereas the other side was a m/s of the singer. I liked this as the video became more interesting to watch. The camera shots were either close ups of the singers face showing his emotions or mid-shots showing the artist as well as some of the mise-en-scene which keeps the audience orientated.

Product Research - music videos

Elvis Presley - Jailhouse rock
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tpzV_0l5ILI

Camera movements frequently used in this video were Long shots and Mid-shots. Long shots were used to allow the audience to see the dancing and setting where as mid-shots were used for a closer view on certain body parts of Elvis whilst dancing. The mise-en-scene was kept to a minimal, it was a white room with a metal framing that looked like jail, this allowed the audiences main focus to be on the dancing but allow them to understand where it was set by the simple framing. The shots were of long duration, which allowed the audience to enjoy the dancing. Typical conventions of a music video with dancing are shots of long duration at mid-shot so the audience can enjoy the dancing, it is also typical of the time period for music videos to have longer duration shots and less editing used.

George Michael - Faith

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=viPWb3ieH6o

This video used mostly close-ups as the camera was focused on certain body parts or props within the video. This seems confusing for the audience but yet it is interesting as the colours are bright and contrasting making the image on screen interesting. Long shots are also used in the video this is so the audience can identify the main character as well as the main prop (jukebox). The duration of shots vary during the video dur to the pace of the music changing. in the beginning the durations are much longer as the music is building up where as during the video the pace is a lot faster therefore the duration of the shots get shorter. When the camera is moving to a different angle the camera pans off at a fast speed making the transaction smooth. The contrast of colours also have been edited making the colours sharper and more contrasting towards each other.

Audience research

Frank Sinatra is a legendary name in the swing and crooner genre of music, when asked the question "what comes into mind when the name Frank Sinatra is mentioned?" the majority of people replied "great voice", "the 50's", "hats", "american". These results help me understand that many people know of Frank Sinatra and that he is a singer but dont no many of his songs. This allows me to re-release one of his songs knowing that some people may not know the song but many will know the artist.

With these results I have decided to have certain props in my music video that will link to the main answers people gave. The main link people made to Frank Sinatra was the symbolic hat that he often wore, so I could have my main chacrater wear a hat linked to the time period of the 1950's which was also a main comparision that people made with Frank Sinatra.

Audience Research - Questionnaire Results

Do you watch music videos?

15 out of 20 people said yes they do watch music videos, and most of these were aged between 9-45. This shows that my target audience ranges between 9 and 45 as people aged over 45 would not pay muich attention to a music video.

What do you find most appealing in a music video?

From my results it shows that most people find the performance a main factor in a music video, closely followed by costumes. This tells me that i have to focus hard on what costume I choose for main character and the performance this character gives.

Do you feel it is necessary for the artist to be present in the music video?

The majority of people said no they dont think it is necessary, this is helpful to me as i will not be having the artist present as he passed away 10 years ago.

FINAL!

Ok i have been thinking loads and loads and i have finally decided!
Im gona do Frank Sinatra - My Way
Im going to carry on the bike idea and have the cyclist going on a journey, there will be road signs and the cyclist will ignore them because they are going there own way! during the song when it talks about in the past they struggled ill have flash backs of younger kids (representing the present cyclist) in the past failing and learninf to ride a bike.
during the whole video there will be shots of 'the end' so the audience can see the end destination.

Confused!

I have been looking at Bob Sinclair and im starting to like him to! i duno who to do......
Bob Sinclairs videos are a bit more imaginative and dont use the artist, so i can not have the artist and use my other skills (graphics) to make the video a bit more imaginative and different. This may take up time.
OR
Corrine Bailey Rae, her videos are all floaty and happy and match my bike idea, but a problem with the weather may cause the video not to come out how i want it, and she usually features the artist!

Im confused and have ideas for both, but what one shall i do.......

Final Choice

Right! i have decided to do a Music Video as i have thought about it a lot more and have a lot of ideas floating around.
The artist i have decided to use is Corrine Bailey Rae, im listining to her tracks on her album and watching her videos on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVNK_VDQY8I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e19eZJX8QHY&feature=related

First ideas....

I have not completely made up my mind yet, it is between a Music Video and a Comic Book. The reasons for these decisions is a really enjoyed making the opening of a music video last year and enjoyed the process of filming and editing. With the music video i have thought abuot filming it from the P.O.V of the main character but do not yet know how this would be possible. The Comic Book i would also enjoy a lot as i love to draw and have a rather large imagination and therefore feel i could easily make a comic book and really enjoy the process.