Production - Learning the Lyrics

Learning The Lyrics

As the actor of the music video I was required to learn + memorise the lyrics before starting filming. I also had to practice to match the pace of the lyrics in order to make sure that all the basetracks are in sync. I downloaded the lyrics video of Hey You Beautiful onto my iPod to view in my free-time and began to memorise the lyrics this way. The lip-syncing is very important for the MV in order to look as professional and well produced as possible. I found this to be a simple task as the lyrics were not too fast paced and easy to memorise.

Research: Olly Murs on TV

Olly Murs vs 1D

It was almost as if MTV Hits knew we were prepping up for the final planning preperation of our Music Video. Luckily I stumbled upon a show presenting the best hits from Olly Murs and  One Direction, who both have made many pop music videos which we have previously analysed. As I watched I took a couple of notes of things which stood out and reoccurred throughout all the music videos. These are just brief notes I can show back to the group, for a better idea of shot types during filming and cuts during editing.

Music Videos:

- Mainly close ups
- Dancing
- Shows the entire location usually at start
- Quick cuts
- Artist is usually interacting with others when there is no lyrics
- Artist looks at the camera
- Bright and smart clothing (Shirts, braces for Olly, Chinos and T-Shirts with One Direction)
- Cuts are often to the beat. (4 beats, 3 beats)

PRODUCTION - Photos at Gabriels Wharf and Gallions Hill

PRODUCTION - Costume Change

When Nazim changed into his costume of braces, smart trousers, white shirt and panama hat. After a few minutes consideration, we decided to drop the panama hat as one of our costume pieces because we all unanimously agreed that it did not look good with his current attire.

PRODUCTION - Filming Location One

Today was the first day of our filming for Leon Cross's music video.
We went to our closest location Gabriels Wharf to film the basetrack where Leon Cross breaks out of character and follows Goodwin's theory of interacting with the audience by looking directly into the camera meaning he's seemingly making eye contact with his audience.

PRODUCTION - Change In Location and Basetrack Filming

Because of the lack of clarity within the group of when we would film, what base-track we were filming and the location we would be filming at.
Our two main leads came in costumes for two different locations which clashed so we were forced to improvise and go to the location of Gabriels Wharf and do a base track of Nazim as Leon Cross, out of character just singing 'Hey You Beautiful' whilst at Gabriels Wharf.

PRODUCTION - Goals for Filming Answered: 25th October 2013 (Gabriels Wharf)

More than 2 base-tracks was used, Leon had the correct costume so we went ahead and filmed his individual
base-track. We also took pictures of costume and the location, us getting ready to film as well.

PRODUCTION - Goals For Filming: 25th October 2013 (Gabriels Wharf)

• At least 2 basetracks (will comeback to refilm if needed)
• Correct costume for both characters
• Take pictures of the costume, location
• Get a real feel of how it is to film

PLANNING - Leon Cross Draft Logos

Learning from the research I did into fonts and logos used for male and female artists, I made draft ideas of what fonts could be used for Leon Cross's logo.

PLANNING - Creating Logo+Digipak Research

Before I created a draft logos for Leon Cross I went and researched into other male artists with the same or similar target audience.
I found that for their logo/use of font, cursive fonts were rarely used. Instead, simplistic print fonts were used by most of the male artists so I concluded that using a cursive font is a no since it seems to be only used by female artists.

I also found that with the majority of the CD's, the artists used plain layout and colours and it wasn't too heavily stylised or crowded so I want to transfer what I saw into my own work

RESEARCH - Research Into Websites

Union J are a perfect example for artists websites, they use both their website as well as social networking to interact with their masses of fans.

From the various hyperlinks on the site navigation bar, they have made themselves more accessible to the fans and have made it easier to navigate and find their various media products (Merch, concert tickets, biographies etc)

They keep the same warm colour scheme and warm vintage filter throughout the site.

The site is made more personal by having various images of the members of the group all around the pages of the site and having images and messages that the members upload onto the site.

PLANNING - Analysis of the Usage of Social Media

Facebook

 Instagram

SoundCloud

Twitter

YouTube

Union J covers nearly all aspects of social networking and sites used by their target audience to insure maximum promotion and coverage of their group to the audience.
Unlike other musicians, they promote the sites, Soundcloud and Instagram and hyperlink those to the official site which enables the fans to have a deeper look into the artists through their instagram and hear the songs without videos on Soundcloud.

PLANNING - Female Costume

Considering the weather, I came up with a vague idea of possible alternative outfit the female lead could wear.

Questioning The Real Audience

Questions to Pop Music Video Fans

 

From the questions I picked up several things which I think should be used in our music video:

- Bright Colours

- Stylish clothing (Chinos, Shirts)

- Fast cuts

We also confirmed our assumption that this music track would be most popular amongst teenage girls.

 

[PLANNING] Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leon-Cross/382422465222132?ref=hl

[PLANNING] Creating a website for Leon Cross

I have created a website for Leon Cross, it is still under-construction.

[PRODUCTION] Skills Development

We planned through discussion, noting down what is happening and mainly, when I did the time toast I planned out wht was happening for the next month. We did quite a lot of research in the costume, props and location to know what we was actually doing. It is a big part of our music video, so we planned it as detailed as we could. In contrast, to the AS year my previous group did do the planning but we did less research. We didn't think about the importance of costume, props and location because we just really picked what was convenient. I am more organised in terms of planning and scheduling alongside my group, so it helps us use our time efficiently.

Planning - Shops and Props!

Shopping for Props!

So we went Shopping today and here is my take on the how the day went and why we bought what we did. Props and costume are an important part of our synergy, and important part for the music video it's self too as I have explained in the SoundCloud below. I have also attached the images of all props we purchased. Enjoy :)

PLANNING - Schedule Update

Because of the bad weather, wed decided to go and buy the costume for one of our basetracks because we couldn't film.

PLANNING - Shopping For Props Vlog

PLANNING - Shopping For Props

Today as a group, we gave ourselves the budget of £40 (£10 each) and went to various shops in Angel Islington to try and find the four costumes we were lacking for Leon Cross.

• Black Braces
• Bowtie

Reflection on Progress blog

The 3 targets I set myself was:

• Use a variety of ICT to enhance my blogging work
• Clearly explain and analyse any embedded videos or photos
• Stick to the routine of blogging weekly

I have used a variety of ICT such as slideshare or timetoast which allowed me to give more detail in another format. I clearly explain what I have embedded within the video, so the structure is easy to read and the ICT is simple to use. I blog weekly, trying to keep up to date despite my other lessons workloads.

2 targets:

• Blog all the research and planning posts that haven't been done, and concentrate on the production tasks.
• Use other ICT such as WIX or animation websites.

12/20 mark update

PLANNING - Weather Problem

Because it was raining today so we were unable to film we went and checked the weather forecast for the days we planned to film and found that it would be raining throughout all days but one. So were a bit stuck on what to do because we expected dry weather, we are now discussing alternatives and solutions to this problem we have sadly encountered.

PLANNING - Filming Transit from AS to A2

Doing a MV is a huge leap for me from what I did in AS Media.
This is because when making my groups film opening, we never actually filmed out of the school premise, we filmed in the college's under-croft which insured that there would be no way for the weather to effect our filming, there would be less of a chance of people walking in or through during our filming and so on.
So it was a big, frustrating change to have to keep on rescheduling our schedule because the weather kept of affecting the days we planned to film and we needed a bright sunny day to film but we persevered until the days we could actually film.

It was difficult to transit from using static shots with head space to filming with no head space and having to constantly move with a fig rig.
When filming, I found myself unconsciously making sure that there was head space in the shots which resulted in them having to be filmed again but I easily adapted to movement. From analysing a previous student MV, I saw that the camera always seemed to be rotating around the artists so I filmed some shots like that to see how they seemed like and since it looked good, it was done throughout.

PLANNING - Industry

In my group pitch, we touched a bit on the subject of the company we would want our artist to be signed to!
We decided that we would want Leon Cross to be signed to EPIC records, the subsidiary company of SONY BMG Entertainment.

We thought it would be a ideal company since that have many other artists who are under the same genre as our artist, pop.
When researching into what artists were signed to EPIC records, we found that many British artists such as JLS, Alexandra Burke,  and Cher Lloyd were has contracts with them.

Since our artists Leon Cross is a pop artist, we followed the convention and found a conglomerate company for him to be signed to since usually only artists from genres such as punk rock or indie are signed to independent companies.
Because they're a sub unit of a conglomerate company, it means we will have a lot of budget to spend on promotion and distribution of our artists via posters, social networking, TV adverts etc
Meaning that we would be able to afford widespread promotion of our artist and guarantee that we reach our target audience as much as we can.

Feedback of our progress

The teacher gave us feedback, about our blogs and what we was missing as well as our strengths. Overall, We need to complete at least 1 or 2 blogs of our research, as well as starting to plan weekly.

PLANNING - Skill Development

Unlike is AS media, this time round when planning, rather than using intertextuality.
My group and I came up with our own ideas off head so we would not be influenced by other music videos or be influenced by the original artist, Olly Murs videos.
After we created a vague idea of what we wanted for each verse, chorus and bridge and the locations we would want to use, we then went on and looked at a few music videos to see if we could expand on our ideas and improve them by taking inspiration from those videos and took influences from artists such as Paul Kim, Olly Murs and so on and decided we would want to incorporate the fun carefree feel of their music videos into our own.

Reflection - Progress Reflection

Looking back on my previous reflection post and working with the three targets I gave myself.
I think I've improved but have yet to do my three targets to the best of my ability.
I've still managed to keep up with my time management and doing a post a day for the majority of the time and if I don't i'll do both posts the next day.


Since then, I've used various ICT's such as vlogging, print screens, photoshop, prezi and timetoast and i'm more confident now when having to vlog a post rather than writing it.
I think I've proved with explaining work in more detail, when making a point or whilst completing a task, I try to link it with music videos and how it relates.

The two targets I've given to myself now are:

• Maintain focus whilst on the set and filming with my group, the more focused I am and the group is, the more work we can get done.
• Research into more artists, when using examples, I seem to be repeating the same artists and the same songs by them

PLANNING - Improving on Pitch

After receiving critic on our pitch, we went back together as a team and decided how we would improve on the one problem pointed out.
We had Barons Park as a location which has four settings in it and there was no link between the four and our other two locations.

To settle this, we have decided to have some angled shots which will show one of the other settings in Baron's park when we're filming at a certain setting to create a link. E.G. Filming in the skate park and in the background, you can see the children's park.

PLANNING - PITCH FEEDBACK

This is the feedback we got when we presented our pitch to the class

[PLANNING] Prezi Pitch

[RESEARCH] Researching the Audience

The psycho graphic profile of our audience member is:

Main streamers: they have a need for security, a plan for the future, likes brands such as Superdry, they do not want to stand out from the crowd but still want to fit in - they want to go with the flow, and makes up 40% of the population.

[PLANNING] Animatic

[PLANNING] Costume Detailed

This is a rough idea of how the costume will look like, the colors can be changed if it is needed too. The costume is planned out to each location.

[PLANNING] Creating the Animatic with Sony Vegas Pro 11

I used a program called Sony Vegas Pro 11 to create the animatic as I was really familiar with the program already. The part that was the most trickest was trying to make the split screen during the video which is shown above. Firstly I put 3 images in 3 different  timelines so that i could split up the images and then I moved the images around where I felt that was most suitable positions. This program has many great features such as transitions, filters and it is really easy to use. I was able to use final cut pro but as we had no time to combine all the images together in college , i decided to use another program.











I rendered the animatic as a wmv file as it made the file small so i could upload it to the blogger really quickly, whilst I was making the animatic, I had the storyboard on my left so i could follow it. Using this program was a really success and made out animatic successful.

PLANNING - Audience

[PLANNING] Social Networks

One Direction is an example of artists who uses social networks to interact with the fans, or the target audience. It is convenient for both parties because the fans can know what One Direction is doing, and they can get feedback and fan notes to improve or enhance their confidence. Feedback from the target audience is an important in order to strive for success in the music industry, this is because knowing what the target audience wants, is what sells so therefore, getting to know the audience through feds such as Twitter, allows artists such as One Direction to improve and acknowledge what the fans want to listen/see next.

Merchandise, gifts and music is sold on their website to enhance
sales and convenience for fans will keep them retained and to prevent
any scams, selling on their official website will increase legit sales.

They have a variety of social network/sites they can be assesed
through which helps their populairty and it is esier for fans to locate
what they are doing, selling or any upcoming events.

This Facebook site, is an original site that has easy assess
for fans or any one who is interested in them. It allows you to share
like and comment on what One Direction is doing. Broadening their
audience base.

Recent tweets, information and events are provided for fans or
potential audiences, this enhances their fan base because they can
assessed quickly and conveniently.

PLANNING - Production Schedule

[PLANNING] Risk Assessment

During the production of the music video we will be aiming to create, there are fundamental risks that we have to take into account when we are filming.

Camera

The camera is an expensive piece of equipment that needs to be taken care of at all times. It will not be left behind at a park, or anywhere without supervision. Thus, if we was to take it overnight, it will be kept in a safe home, locked away with parental acknowledgement. We will take into account that if anything happens to the camera, it is in our hands. Since it is Autumn/Winter soon, an umbrella is needed for when it rains, and to plan this we will check the weather a few days before hand so that we can prepare for a rainy day.

We will make sure we do not leave anything abandoned even for a short while. When filming we have to be aware for the public, making sure no bags or paper is left lying around which could be a hazard to us or the public. Also making sure we do not disrupt any people around the locations or annoy them.

Equipment

The tripod, or lights etc, can be quite heavy or hot so we have to be cautious of what we are doing. To prevent any injuries to ourselves or the equipment, it will be taken with care by holding it right, and letting the lights to cool if it is needed, before holding it. The tripod can be dangerous as if it drops onto our feet, it'd hurt or leave a bruise, thus it could hurt a finger if it is not opened/put away properly. Using teamwork, we will set up the scene of the music video appropriately and carefully, helping each other and preventing injuries. When carrying equipment, the person who is in charge of taking the equipment home would be dropped off by at least one other member in the group or if returning to college would have someone accompany them. We would not allow anyone to be alone with equipment due to their own safety concerns, and expensive equipment.

Us

Taking into consideration the weather, if it does rain, umbrellas are needed to protects ourselves. Thus, jackets and warm clothing may be needed, to prevent colds from occurring, and if one of our main members such as the artist is ill, it'll make it hard for all of us to continue to shoot the video. Also, travelling long distances such as Gallions Hill could be dangerous, because we are carrying expensive equipment, to prevent that we will travel in a group and hide necessary equipment in bags to carry.

Location

We would avoid filming in the dark, where it may be difficult to see our way around. We do not plan to film in the dark anyway in our music video. As there may be road-works and building constructions going on, we would have to become road-aware, and try to stay away from these locations as they may pose health hazards.

We have already checked for planning permissions and all locations are fine to film in, we should still respect the area and the people around making sure we do not waste to much time and get our music video complete as quickly and efficiently as possible.

[PLANNING] Potential Logos

Logos is essential for branding, and Leon Cross needs a logo to be recognized through merchandise, or other media products. This enhances his brand image because his logo will be recognized to his fans, or potential fans. Creating potential logos for Leon Cross, to brand on his synergy products like the Magazine Advert, or the Single cover. This will create a sense of belonging for Leon, as he has his own iconic peice of art that people are able to recognize and acknowledge him through.

[PLANNING] Audience Analysis

The psycho graphic profile of our audience member is:

Main streamers: they have a need for security, plan for the future, likes brands; doesn't want to stand out from the crowd - they want to go with the flow, and makes up 40% of the population.

PLANNING - Pitch

We went and edited the different sections of the pitch guidelines we did as pairs into the Prezi then finetuned the words so it was more fluent and also made sure each slide made sense and went into detail on our every point just in case we didn't announce it as much as we could

PLANNING - Reflection on Progress

Reflecting again on Progress

Since my last post on reflecting back on AS, I had picked up on certain aspects of my blogging which needed improvement and where I feel is my strong point. Currently I still think that I am coping well with the blogging, going through ticking off blogs as well as adding in my own independent research. I am currently enjoying analysing different pop music videos and fan sites. I attempt to use as many media products as possible, such as voice recording which I hadn't attempted before. I hope to still experiment with more media products to improve the standards of my blogs. 

Previous I had set myself 3 targets. I feel as though I am on road to completing these targets however I am not yet satisfied that I have accomplished them. I have been doing much more independent research and attempting to record them into my blogs, however have forgotten on several occasions or failed to gather enough relevant information. I am still to create a firm time-table for blogging however I am sure that this will come into action once the filming begins. I believe I have gone into more detail in my blogs where possible and tried to explain myself as clear as can be. There still may be a few blogs I can expand on but at this moment I am satisfied with the contents of my blogs.

Another 2 targets I could set myself is to:

- Maintain focus. During Filming things may become very hectic however I will attempt to note down as much as possible and take enough evidence to blog throughout my filming. 

- Use more media products. I find myself repeating some media products, therefore should look into brand new styles and types of ways I could present myself. 

PLANNING : Audience Overview

Looking at other audiences

During Audience research I decided to look at other similar music artists and their fan-bases in order to create a idea of whom our audience will be. Here are some websites I came across during my research. 

Looking at these pop artists fanpages, it is quite evident that the majority fans are females, who also seem rather young. This is the audience we would aim to target in order to best market our artist.

Our Audience Member

Name:

Caroline Forbes

Location: 
East London

Age:
14

Ethnicity: 
White

Status: 
Student

Caroline would buy her groceries at supermarkets or local stores. This includes stores such as Tesco, Sainsbury's Local.

In their spare time she would use social networking sites, such as Twitter, possibly having a fan-account or following several fan accounts of her favourite artists. She would also listen to pop music, hang out with friends and go shopping.

She wouldn't necessarily read newspapers, however would be keenly interested in magazines such as Seventeen, Teen Vogue, We Love Pop, Top of the Pops.

As Caroline would only be a teen, she would be too young to drive a car, therefore would take buses and trains to get to school or other places. She would use gadgets such as iPods, iPhones, Laptop, BlackBerry. Teens are most interested with gadgets, and being a female she would be likely to have much more interest in phones rather than video consoles or gaming computers.

A brand which may attract Caroline would be Louis Vuitton, Louboutins, Chanel and MAC. She would shop at Shopping Centres such as Westfields or Bluewaters. She may also go West End. Shops that would be popular with Caroline are common high street shops such as New Look, River Island, H&M, Forever21, Bershka, Accessorize.

Favourite drink would be any fizzy drinks, Dr Pepper, KA, Coke, Rubicon Mango

She would enjoy going holiday to sunny tourist destinations such as Spain, Egypt, Turkey or Dubai. Somewhere with many attractions and sight-seeing locations. She would also prefer the hotel to have a beach nearby and possibly swimming pool.

She would like this brand as it conforms best to her interests as a teenage girl. She would be attracted to male stars who are not too much older than her and enjoy pop music as it is easy to dance to and listen to. The lyrics are also about love and other girls which Caroline may find easy to relate to. 

PLANNING - Audience Member Profile

[PLANNING] Test shot of potential performers

PLANNING - Influences and Intertextuality

PLANNING - Analysis of Website

PLANNING - Costume, Setting and Props (Update)

We cut our locations from five to three so we could follow the convention of music videos.

Gallions Hill in Greenwich 
Will be used as the basetrack where it is just Leon Cross singing surrounded by nature.

Gabriel's Wharf 
This will be used as a basetrack where Leon Cross and the female lead star. Since we decided to follow the convention of having three locations for our music video, we cut off Bermondsey and Kensington as location which meant we had to cut down on one costume per main character

Bishop's Park in Putney (Skate Park)
Basetrack for the scene where the female lead teaches our artist how to skateboard

Costume
We want our artist to have the maximum of four costume changes since the norm in music videos is to have under four costume changes.

Male
Costume One : Braces, buttoned up shirt or shirt with cross design, comfortable casual trousers

Costume Two: Panama hat, chinos, bowtie and blazer?

Costume Three: skater clothing


Female
Costume One: Hipster-ish, Vans, comfy shirt, shorts?

Costume Two: Stylish casual, Vans, Girly clothing

Props
Skateboard