Group 51 Anthony, Tash and Helen's Music Video Blog 2008/9

Feedback

2008-11-10T15:14:00.002Z

We were told that we had a good variety of shots.
The Mise En Scene was referred to as Spot On.
It was called professional.
The footage was described as crazy, random and quirky, and this fitted in very well with the genre and gave a good music-visuals relationship.
The continuity of lighting worked very well, as it was all shot in one day.
It had a good lyrics-visuals relationship.

Rough Cut

2008-10-13T15:23:00.000+01:00

Class feedback

2008-10-13T15:01:00.002+01:00

This is the feedback we recieved from the las about our rough cut.

Camera work

Lack of shots, static.
Close up and distance shots shows great ideas.
Really good with long/close up variety

Editing

Really good use of speeding up footage to keep in time with the pace of the song.
Lots of variation keeps things interesting.
Some black shots

Effects

Good use of speeding up clips
Start of song makes for a good intro.
Love the colour effect at the beginning, works really well with genre

Mise en scene

Balloons, costumes pretty plain
Balloons make a random effect that matches the song
Good lighting

Performance/genre

Good ideas like balloons
Hard song to lip sync to but it looks really well done
Brilliant, genre fits really well

Continuity

Alot of the main guy singing, maybe break it up a bit
Could include more footage of clowns doing tricks.

Overall comments

Really good, just needs a bit more work
Interesting but where's the rest of it
Love it :)

New Plan

2008-10-06T14:11:00.002+01:00

Now we intend to film our footage in the woods near long road, so that we can film during lessons and have more security in our location, so that if it is raining, then it won't be so much of a dangerous issue.

Weekend Of Filming: Disaster

2008-10-06T14:00:00.002+01:00

Saturday:
Due to the fact that we didn't have access to speakers to lip sync, Anthony and I decided to film cutscenes. However, the very strong wind and patchy rain, caused wardrobe issues and a danger to us by making the floor slippery.
We filmed a small amount of footage, but it's partially unusable.

Sunday:
Unfortunately on Sunday the wind was very strong again and then there was the issue of the heavy rain so we decided that it would be unsafe to film in the slippery chalk pits and plan what to do on monday

Response To Peer Assessment

2008-10-01T12:10:00.001+01:00

To make our blog better we plan to go through all our posts and enclose more detal.
We will also upload location shots and more detailed test footage.

Feedback

2008-10-01T11:56:00.003+01:00

1. List below the content of each of the posts (e.g. analysis of real music video). Are there any types of post that you think are missing from the blog?

- Need video analysis of all music videos
- What purpose do videos have? No explaining
- background research
- more research into the band

2. Is there evidence in the blog that the group has:

- Completed background research?
- Organised personnel, locations and equipment for shooting?
- Developed ideas since the initial concept?

You must give specific examples as evidence.

- Some research but not in depth discussion into it (S Club? why is it there?)
- Carried out test footage - but not many shots on scenes
- what is the test footage about? Is it to do with the song?
- good test footage

3. Assessment question - What could make our blog better?

- Analyse the music videos you have put up as examples.
- Number the shot lists
- location shots
- assess the pictures/videos

4. Overall assessment.
If you were to give this blog a marking level, what would it be?
- Level 4: Excellent planning 24-30 marks.
- Level 3: Proficient planning 17-23 marks
- Level 2: Adequate planning 10-16 marks
- Level 1: Poor planning 0-9 marks.

I would give this a level 3, there are alot of ideas but not enough explanation about the ideas.

Level 3-19

Level 3-20

Level 3-20

Could be really good but has to be not so out there - 16 marks as the stuff is there but needs explaining, bit kinky!

Individual feedback from our pitch.

2008-09-25T09:13:00.004+01:00

Our pitch went well and we received positive feedback and some ideas from other groups. To help create the dreamlike and surreal feeling in our video it was suggested that we use some shots upside down etc to emphasize this which we will end up doing.

Initially, the groups liked our Alice in wonderland idea and thought it was original to previous videos. It was also put forward that we use a maze to further this idea, however, that was our main idea but finding a maze which is near and getting all our equipment and extras there ended up not possible.

We were also asked how easy it would be to get to the Chalk Pits in Cherry Hinton as this may difficult with a limited amount of time as well as extras and our equipment. Although we took notice of this comment we still think it is easy enough to get to our location in the allocated time.

Because we are using the Alice in Wonderland theme it was asked how we were planning to get the costumes without them being to expensive, but we are planning to go and look around some charity shops to help with this. Our basic ideas for the costumes are on our blog already.

Also, another question was how and where would we get all the extras but it was decided while planning our idea that we would use our friends and maybe other people we could find on our frees but overall we will use our friends.

Finally, our positive comments were the originality of our whole idea, the variety and good use of shots such as the 360 degrees shot. A very good relationship between the lyrics and the music and the visuals. As well, using fast pace editing to help create the dreamlike feel proved to be a good idea within the group.

Response to pitch

2008-09-25T09:11:00.003+01:00

Overall our pitch went well. We put our case forward convincingly and were interested in the feedback from the other groups.

Everyone seemed to like our Alice in wonderland, surreal idea for the video and we got some good suggestions from groups on how to emphasize this effect. for example one group suggest that we film some of the shots upside down to fit with the confused look of the video. Our idea for the costumes and candles went down well also as we were very confident in the fact that it would work and look really good at the same time.

There was a bit of concern when referring to our location as people were worried we would have difficulty getting there and back and transporting our props there. Also there was some worry that we would be unable to film there easily and safely. We will take this into consideration but am sure our troubles with this will not be to severe.

There was also some anxiety with the amount of extras we said we wanted to use. There was quite a few but between the 3 members of our group we have secured many of the ones we need i.e two people to play the two bankers. We are going to bring along plenty to occupy the characters that we need people to play and will also have people as general extras such as with the Glastonbury scene with people outside the tent. If however we don't think there are enough we can cameo ourselves to fill the gaps.

Overall a good pitch with a lot of positive feedback and the parts people had a problem with we have successfully solved.

Test Footage

2008-09-24T11:06:00.000+01:00

We wanted to see which way of doing the shot would work best, so we tried two different ways of shooting it. One of which where Anthony, who will be playing the main character held it and spun around, and then one where his whole head was shot from 360 degrees.

We decided that the best type was the one in which Anthony held the camera.

We also put all of the footage we filmed during our test footage together to create a busy video representing the pace we intend to edit at, and in the "random" style we want to create.

Props

2008-09-22T14:13:00.000+01:00

To make our video we will need:

Candles

A guitar

Pillow

A giant pound sign

A tent

A sign saying Glastonbury

Lots of jewelry

Helium Balloons

A Newspaper

A Clock

Costumes

2008-09-22T14:04:00.000+01:00

Main Boy:

Costume 1: Black suit, trilby hat

Costume 2: Indie jumper, skinny jeans

Main Girl:

Costume 1: Alice in Wonderland costume

Costume 2: Indie style skirt and jumper

Bankers:

Bowler hat, pin stripe suit, cigar.

Burglar:

Striped black and white top, black trousers, black mask, swag bag

Glastonbury people

Hippy clothing.

Emo Teenager

Black clothes, white and black makeup, emo style hair.

Praying People

Conservative, church going clothes.

Clowns

Clown costumes, mime makeup

Animatic

2008-09-18T10:28:00.000+01:00

Camera Allocation - Teacher Post

2008-09-18T10:05:00.000+01:00

Make sure you discuss and plan your filming times now. You can start filming next week, assuming you have returned your signed camera loan letter.
Cameras can be used in your usual class blocks (just for that hour and a half), in addition groups can book out either one weekend (Fri 16.10 - Mon 9am) or two overnights during the week (excluding Friday night, for example Tuesday 16.10 to Thursday 9am).
There are around 60 music video groups and nowhere near 60 cameras! Book your camera slot as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Teacher Feedback

2008-09-16T09:42:00.000+01:00

Guys, your blog is looking good, lots of imagery that effectively communicates the mise en scene you are hoping to create. Make sure you also include some reflective feedback on the pitch and how you felt it went, the questions people had and how you dealt with those.
Also make sure you include a full shot list by the end of the week.
Keep up the good work.

Shot List

2008-09-15T14:57:00.000+01:00

We plan to film in one big sequence from start to finish. This is due to the fact that we can't film our end sequence without using footage from the previous shots for our final part.

To begin we will film the main girl character in the middle of a forest looking around confused and looking lost. She will then walk through to the chalk pits and the song will begin.

Then on the first "aye aye aye" we will have the main male character with a 360 degree shot with his face at the center of the shot. This will be relatively easy to perform and give a good surreal effect to the shot whilst in keeping with the upbeat tempo of the song.

We will film the words being mouthed the whole way through by the singer 3 times from different angles in different situations. This is to ensure that we have the actual words being sung and so we cut and edit the sequence for the different parts of the song. For example with the lyric, "burn, light up the sky" we can have the male singer mouthing the words surrounded by candles in a poor light to represent the "burn" and then pan upwards to the sky with a light effect, or have the camera looking up at the man and the candles and through to the sky. The singer will mouth the words in different locations one will be sitting on cliff singing.

On the lyric "pressure of a pound sign" we will have two bankers dressed up one of which is holding a giant pound sign to represent the lyric.

The next shot we will have a tent with people standing round and a sign with 'Glastonbury' then we will ave a thief turn up with a SWAG bag and have him steal it to represent the lyric of "stole your Glastonbury".

We will then have the male singer singing with a background of the chalk pits with some rocky parts and just a generally good background to create good lighting and give effect to the shot.

We are trying to create a really surreal look to this video so are going to have a lot of running around, and for the next shot we are going to have the main girl spinning around in confusion to help to achieve this surreal look.

On the next lyric "so burn, light up the sky" we will have the male singer surrounded by candles to help visually represent the lyric and get it across a lot more successfully.

Next we are going to have the two main characters dancing, ballroom style, for the "verbal song and dance" and as the lyric changes to "bleed into your guitar strings" we will have the man push her away and the shot pan to an emo dressed kid bleeding into a guitar with fake blood. This is a very strong visual representation of bleeding, and puts the lyrical message across very well.

At the end of the song we are going to have a panning out shot from the band that will then appear on the front of the newspaper with a point of view shot as the main girl walks out of the shop.

On the lyric "I'll see you in the morning" there is a "ding" at the end. This sounds just like an old shop bell so we decided that we are going to have the girl walking out of the shop on that noise and meet up with the main boy like they are boy friend and girlfriend and the whole thing was a dream.

For the last shot we will have them walking away and then repeat the end part of the song and on the last beats have their clothes change to the ones they were wearing in the whole video an then have them turn round and wink at the camera.

The middle of the song wil be filled with shots of singing by the male and general filler such as everyone running about etc.

Costume Ideas

2008-09-11T09:24:00.000+01:00

Here are some ideas for costumes

Deadline Information

2008-09-10T11:50:00.000+01:00

Coursework Assignment: Tile and details

Advanced production: Music video plus 3000 word production report

Percentage of final exam marks 40% of A2

Interim deadlines: Practical: Rough cut 10th October 2008

Writing part 1 20th october 2008

Final deadline: Practical final lesson w/c 3rd-7th November
Writing: Final draft 24th Ocotber

Arrangements for handing in coursework

Practical: Left on machines
Writing: To Moodle

Connsequences of missing the deadline:

Interim work will be marked as final.

Pitch

2008-09-10T11:12:00.000+01:00

We want to create an Alice in Wonderlandesque video.

As the song is quite indie, and the lyrics are so visually strong, we feel that it is very surreal and dreamlike.

We will start with a girl dressed in a white dress and tights with very high heeled shoes, wandering around the location looking very confused, as soon as the first "ayeayeayeayeaye" of the lyrics come in the shot will change to the face of the singer, and we will use a 360degrees shot, spinning round. We feel that this shot will be effective as the tempo of the "ayeayeayeayeaye" will give this shot a good visual to music relationship.

An example of this shot is used in this student video from last year:

Make Out Fall Out- Group 39

The rest of the video will be a speedily edited, with shots varying from the singer with his guitar, to shots of the girl walking through a sea of people in weird costumes which represent the lyrics.

For example, for the lyric "the pressure of a pound sign", would be a shot of two men in very stereotypical banker costumes, holding a giant pound sign.

The whole video will have a very surreal, dreamlike vibe to it. We were inspired by Alice In Wonderland, and would like to create our own versions of the kind of characters Alice meets, but symbolic to the lyrics.

Both the Gwen Stefani video What You Waiting For?, and the Ashley Simpson video Outta My Head, create the kind of illusion that we are hoping to create.

Throughout the whole song we intend to use very fast pace editing, to create the confusing nature of a dream. As the song has quite a strong fast tempo, we feel that it will benefit from fast editing.

Target audience is anyone who likes the song/ kid harpoon, so mainly younger people.

Basically, our idea is AWESOME!

Issues With Idea

2008-09-10T11:03:00.000+01:00

We want to create a very symbolic video, as we feel that the song has very strong lyrics.

Our initial idea was to set the video in a maze, however we are not sure if we will be able to find a large hedge maze to set it in, and be able to get all of the extra characters to travel to a location, so we have found an alternative location in Cambridge.

We also need to advertise for extras to star in our video, because we have ideas involving lots of extras, dressed up in costumes symbolic of the lyrics.

Teacher Post - What your pitch should include

2008-09-09T11:35:00.000+01:00

All groups must produce and present a pitch as an integral part of the planning stage. Your pitch is a proposal for your music video to the record company thinking of hiring you:
It must include:

* A clear written summary of the content/key idea for the video (at least 500 words).
The summary should include a reference to performers, locations, props, target audience for the video, reference to research conducted on the band, genre of the band and the song, relationship between the music and the visuals, relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, if the video will conform to or oppose the generic conventions of videos within that genre of music

* 2-4 (embedded) actual music videos which you think are similar to yours or that contain something that has influenced your idea (plus analysis, use Goodwin’s framework for analysing music videos)

* 2 (embedded) student videos which you think are similar (plus analysis)

* 4-6 Images which indicate location choices, overall mise en scene, costumes, props

If there is more than one group pitching for the same song, ensure you have a back-up choice and also try to make your pitch memorable.

Ideas:

2008-09-08T14:56:00.001+01:00

We are considering working in stop motion for part of the video, so we looked at examples of stop motion music videos.

We are considering considering usingtop motion to portray the "real-life" parts of the video, so that the dream occurs with actors and the conscious moments are made in stop motion.

Here are some examples of stop-motion used in music videos.

We looked at these videos to see how the figures were moved to appear as though they are dancing in a music video.

We also vonsidered taking still photos representing the different parts of the song, so we have included a fdamily guy video.

57 Live & Acoustic

2008-09-08T14:54:00.000+01:00

Although there is no music video for the song 57 we have found a live recording, we will use this to see how Kid Harpoon performs the song to get tips for creating an authentic looking performance in our video.

Other Songs & Videos By Kid Harpoon

2008-09-08T14:45:00.000+01:00

Riverside, by Kid Harpoon.

Colours, by Kid Harpoon.

Airplanes and Neon Lights, by Kid Harpoon

Lyrics To Song

2008-09-08T14:41:00.000+01:00

You say you are my friend, your not my friend

The pressure of a pound sign crushed our coupled hands

Remember corporations, stole your Glastonbury

The winning ideology stole you away from me

So burn light up the sky, it makes me laugh when you sigh

We trade in muscle movements a verbal song and dance

Bleed into your guitar strings, give peace a chance

Vomit on my pillow, suck my honesty

Pray for all the innocents, that made your jewellery

and I, I pray for them, we pray for you to come home soon

and I don't want to live here any longer,

all the promises we made we never kept that strong

but collossal vision and laughing gas

Well, we can't forget all of that so we go

aye aye aye aye aye aye aye finally I can see

aye aye aye aye aye aye aye how the bigger picture painted me

I will see you on the outside, beneath the fallen wall

If you cannot count past number 1, you cannot count at all

So burn, light up the sky, it makes me laugh when you cry*

Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh But i'll see you in the morning.

* On the online lyrics it says die, however we know that it is actually cry

Final Pitch Idea

2008-09-08T14:37:00.000+01:00

We have decided to go for idea number four, only with a few modifications.

As it would be expensive to film in a maze, as we would have to rent it and ensure that all of our cast would be able to get transport, we have decided to film at the Cherry Hinton Chalk Pitts in Cambridge.

We feel the dramatic and maze like scenery will correspond well with the lyrics and the beauty of the local are will look attractive on camera.

Initial Ideas For Video

2008-09-08T14:12:00.000+01:00

We have decided to pitch for the song 57 by Kid Harpoon.

These are our initial ideas:

1)An out of hand teenage party with the singer singing on the flat roof of a garage.
Pros: good music and lyric to visual relationship
Cons: Dangerous and has been done before.

2)The band on punts with fans dancing around to them, in a more traditional; performance style video, used to promote the artist.
Pros: Easy to work with concept, good for artist
Cons: Punt hire expensive, no private location

3)The singer in a church, singing with a choir behind him, with flashbacks relating to the woman in the lyrics, and shots of her alone now in a big empty place.
Pros: Strong imagery, lyric to visuals relationship.
Cons: My be controversial with Christians.

4)A large maze with a woman running through it in high heels looking really over the top, tragically confused, running into dead ends where people are dressed up in costumes which represent the lyrcis in a very blatant way.

Welcome to GROUP 51

2008-09-01T10:06:00.001+01:00

Group 51 Anthony, Tash and Helen's Music Video Blog 2008/9

Feedback

Rough Cut

Class feedback

New Plan

Weekend Of Filming: Disaster

Response To Peer Assessment

Feedback

Individual feedback from our pitch.

Response to pitch

Test Footage

Props

Costumes

Animatic

Camera Allocation - Teacher Post

Teacher Feedback

Shot List

Costume Ideas

Deadline Information

Pitch

Issues With Idea

Teacher Post - What your pitch should include

Other Music Videos For Other Artists

Ideas:

57 Live & Acoustic

Other Songs & Videos By Kid Harpoon

Lyrics To Song

Final Pitch Idea

Initial Ideas For Video

Welcome to GROUP 51