Research Log

codes of practise and regulation grid

WEEKLY PRODUCTION LOG: Week8

This week me and Aisha were just brushing up any loose bits to the music video. We had to line up everything to make it even more precise. At the beginning of the music video, there was sound that was really loud then when it cut to a different scene which was also outside, it went really quiet. To change this so that it would fit better, we got a piece of audio from another clip and slowed it down to fit the length of 10 seconds then placed it over the three video slips which it needed to be. This fit really well even though it was slowed down. Also during the audio, we left in a natural sound from recording which was some bird noises. At first it was an accident but we didn’t realize until the end that it fit really nicely with the tempo and area of the song. We showed it to miss and she said that the audio was all really nice but there was still a few bits of lip synching that was a little off. We had to then try and match everything up as precise as we can. To do this to the best we could, we expanded the image and then synched it. This was to get a better view of Theo’s singing and to match it more precisely to the audio track. The last thing we had to do was export the video as it was complete. This took a while as it had to go over a 3 minute video. As it was taking a while, we were able to set up the saving area and then let it export and leave.

WEEKLY PRODUCTION LOG: Week 7

This week me and Aisha had to grab some extra footage for the music video. This was due to some  of the footage not matching the audio by timing. We had got this asll recorded and then started to rematch it to the audio. In a way it looks better as it changes the scenery in the background. We also had some trouble Putin some effects in for the Visio transactions. This was because where we wanted to do a cross fade, it would cut off the video as well as being very short. To over come this, we d cided to put in a different transaction and lay one part of the video on another layer. This seemed to work so we figured we would just do that if it came to the same complication. We also cropped out some of the begging g intro to make it more effwctice towards the build up to the official music video. We cut out quite a lot but it doesn't effect the video as a whole in a major way. The other tricky thing was trying to match up Theo's lip synching. This was due to the fact when we was recording, he would be singing it at a different pace to what the audio is at. We overcame this by slowing down the footage to fit and it worked pretty well without any major realisations of it.

WEEKLY PRODUCTION LOG: Week 7

This week me and Aisha had carried on editing our music video on final cut express. We carried on to look for any faults in the footage which was taken as it would be easier to re take the shots all together rather than having it all scattered around on different dates. We were also looking for the days in which Theo and Riteeka were able to film based around our free time as well. We matched up as much footage which we had as possible to the sound track but we left gaps in which we would filter in the re shot footage. Aisha wasn't in on Wednesday as she had a trip but i was able to get a section of the song done. I dine this based to my opinions and then i had to show Aisha when she got back. She also liked it so we didn't have to change any of that but we decided to change a little at the end in which there would be a memory section of Theo and Riteeka over an instrumental break in the song. The opening scene is the first thing you see when you watch our music video, so we both decided to make the talking scene a little longer by adding in more to the speech which would be covered by the beginning instrumental of the song. These actions would be emphasized as you wont be able to hear what they are saying but you would be able to understand their mood.

WEEKLY PRODUCTION LOG: Week 6

This week me and Aisha had started to transfer all of the footage we took during the scheduled time from out memory card on to the Macs so we could start editing the music video together. Before we started, we had to make sure that we had the song so we had to download it and then place it into final cut express and then lock it in to place so that when we moved footage around, the song would stay in the same place. This also made it easier to lay the footage over the correct lyrics. When we had that locked into place, we then started to edit the scenes together. We cut out the beginning and end few seconds to some parts to make it quicker and it also fit better with the tempo. We also scraped some of the scenes as it worked fine without them and it made the story line more understandable. We had noticed that there were a few mistakes in the footage so we started to note down what shots had to be re shot. We thought that it would be a better idea to shoot it on the weekend as there would be more time to do it in rather than the few hours left after school. There were a few problems with the lip syncing when it came to Theo's part, so we had to make do with what we had until we went back out and record what we needed.

WEEKLY PRODUCTION LOG: Week 5

This week was the week me and Aisha planned to get everything filmed for when we came back to school. Aisha helped me film on the sunday and monday which was the introduction scene before the song actually began. After these two days, Aisha went on holiday which meant that i had to record everything else by myself. I coped reasonably well considering i had to take everything to london as well as hainault forest. On the day we went to london, it was raining so we had to keep the equipment dry. I took theo and riteeka with me as i needed to record theo's shots and riteeka helped with keeping an eye on the equipment as i adjusted theo to the right positioning. Whilst recording theos shots, the rain wasnt a problem as we was under a shelter. The day i went to hainault with riteeka, it wasnt raining so it seemed to go well. But as soon as we got to hainault, the forrest was mostly flooded so we had trouble walking to the areas needed whilst keeping the equipment safe. As me and riteeka are close, we were able to get the filming done quite quickly. The only shots that i couldn't get was with my horse as she has become lame "sprained her foot". As this has happened she can't be ridded etc so we will have to wait for her to become better and then record in which i have set dates for re filming where we can shoot what we need.

WEEKLY PRODUCTION LOG: Week 4

This week me and Aisha had completed the following tasks which were the waiver for cast, production schedule, location reccies, risk assessments and call sheets together. We done this over a period of 4 days as we had to get people to sign sheets and we had to scan them in. We also had to make sure that the location reccies had images that related to the scenery that we chose to record in of if not get an actual image of the location which would be better as it gives a direct image to what the music video will come to look like. The last things that we had to complete was the reccies and the permission to film as we still needed a few images of the scenery and a concent form from riteeka to show that we were given the permission to film in her house as we have to record some hazardous scenes such as breaking glass, which would have to be re filmed quite a few times ad different angles, and setting a fire which would also be done a few times as we need to re burn the same image over again for different angles also.  I also completed my job roles and responsibilities which had to be done individually. This was because it was to do with my role and how i would be performing it in the group for when it comes to recording. We have planned to film over the holidays as a substitution from this week as we were going to film, but we had to catch up on the paper work. The only problem for next week is that Aisha would be on holiday so i would be filming by myself which i am okay with and she will be back to film on the last sunday with me.

Permission to film

The locations that we are using to film are London South Bank, Riteeka's house and garden, Jarrow Road and Hainault Forest. At london we wouldn't need any permission to film as it is a public area in which recording is open to the public. We know this as there is footage of people skating and directing etc all up the bank and in the skate area. Hainault Forest wouldn't need any permission to film either as it is also a public area open to the public to record. There is natural scenary that is wanted to be shared to the public so they are able to look at in it their own views. Jarrow road is open to all public so there is no need for permission to film. The only locations that will need permission is Riteeka's house and garden as it isn't public property and there are some hazards that will need to be filmed such as breaking glass and setting pictures on fire.This is the permission note that we got off of Riteeka to give us her concent to film these scenes in her house. It states that she is fine with the hazards and is willing to go along with it.

Location Reccies

Our 5 location that we will be using in our music video are Riteeka's house, South bank in London, Jarrow road, the stables, and Hainault forest. 

Riteeka's house is personal property and so we have her permission to use it for filming. The reason we have chosen to film at Riteeka's house is because we need a house to film at in our music video. Riteeka's the actress in the video and her kitchen and garden are suitable places to film in. Breaking glass on tiled floor is more dramatic.

 

The skate park has a lot of graffiti on the walls and it has a more relatable vibe. The music video is set in London and that's what London looks like. Its also a contrast to the forest which represents their relationship. Their personalities contrast which is shown in the song.

The reason we chose the south bank was because it has the kind of look we were going for. Jarrow road could be replaced for any road in London but we chose Jarrow road because it is the most convenient for our filming.

 

Hainault Forest is also the most convenient place for filming. all the places are easy to film in as they don't need permission to film in. this will minimize problems while we are filming.We decided to film at a forest as it is where the character enjoys spending her time.

 

We chose the stables to film in because it goes with the indie theme of the song and its genre. It shows the character personality as she like nature and animals. The use of a shot with the horse at the stables is useful as the male character is remembering her as she was with him. 

 

Shooting Script

Job roles and Responsibilities

Between me and Aisha, we have split the job roles between us. Aisha will be the camera operator and editor as she has a better knowledge of camera technology compared to me. I am the director and production manager as i know what i want the overall music video to look like. This is because we chose to use my idea from our pitch's. We chose mine as it would be an easier choice and more people can relate to it as it has that whole relationship genre to it which the majority of music is about e.g. Taylor swift "Blank Space"  and Hozier "Take me to Church". I will also be directing Riteeka's and Theo's outfit and style for the video as i know what i was it to look like and i want to try and keep it to the whole Indie style which the original artist is in to. We haven't chose anyone to do lighting as we are going to be relying on natural light as it would fit in with it more naturally so it doesn't look staged a lot of the time. For the sound, which is just going to be the song apart from the opening scene, we will have the song on a CD etc so that when we shoot the scenes we can get it in time with the music itself.

Waiver for cast

Risk assessments

Call sheets

Production Schedule

This is our production schedule in which we plan to stick to when it comes to recording and editing. We chose to get all of the recording done during the holidays which is from the 15/02/2015 - 22/02/2015 so by time we come back to school, we can get straight on to editing. Once we have edited all of the footage together in which we recorded, we can go through it and see if there is any footage that we missed. In this case, we have set days in which we can go out and record any extra footage which we didn't pick up yet has to be done by the recording deadline which is the 25/02.2015. I have put in set dates to do the recording which is over the weekend so that it wont clash with any work which has to be done during school times and it would be better ans if we have to go back up to London, it would be light out still where as around 4 pm-5 pm it gets darker so we wouldn't have much light. The editing deadline is 13/03/2015 as we would have plenty of time to go through the video and match it up to the music and timings. We would also have enough time to keep progressing it to make it look better as a whole.

WEEKLY PRODUCTION LOG: Week 3

This week me and Aisha carried on with the shooting script. We colour coded it by location so that we know where each part can be shot and how many shots we may be able to do in the same time period. We had some trouble with the timing of things so we listened to the song over a few times and then it gave us a better idea of how long each shot would be instead of guessing it. This means that we would be able to fit more footage into sections of the song. We also had to try and make some parts a bit longer e.g the intro log just before the song begins, we added a few more shots in there to fit our target number of 100 sections on the shooting script that was set at the beginning of the task. We are slyly behind as we had missed a day due to a trip to the BBC and BBFC. In this time we could have finished the shooting script and gone over it to see if there could be any improvements to it by adding in extra shots or seeing where we could have effects. Although this has set us back, we went over it on Friday and we have a clear image of what we want to do so we can get that down on the shooting script straight away. We also had a rough look at the production schedule which was on my presentation so we got a rough idea of when we will be recording. As we have already got a rough idea, we can set what shots can be recorded on the specific days suited to the people who would be in the video.

WEEKLY PRODUCTION LOG: Week 2

This week we had been asked to complete a clear production script to help us out when it comes to recording our music videos. This would help by showing what specific shots would be taken where, how and with who. It would also show us if there are props included and what part of the song it will be set to. Each cut would need a new input so there would be many spaces. The minimum we could do is 100 in the group so that would be shared between me and Asisha to do 50 each. As Aisha had been absent all week, i had to start off the production script by myself. I was stuck at first because i didnt have a clear understanding of what she wanted to do for the introduction in which there would be an acted scene before the music started. Yet i overcame this and done my own idea which i would explain to her when she comes back and she can give me feedback on it to see whether anything needs changing or not. This would also delay us quite a bit as when Aisha comes back in to school, i would have to explain everything to her so that she knows where to pick up from so she can do her share of the script. Although we have to share the task between us, we should be discussing everything as we go along so we both know the idea of what is happening and if it would link well with the other persons ideas. This would also help so that if were not clear or something, we can get around it by getting a clear explanation of one of our ideas.

Artist Email

This was the e-mail that I had sent to my chosen unsigned artist. I chose this artist because I knew that I would get a positive reply as I know the person myself. I had stated that I would be creating a music video to it in which they can not have any interaction, meaning they can not change anything to the video once I have created the final piece. I also stated which song of his I would like to use so he knew which one I was talking about. The reply was positive just as I expected and they agreed to not have any interactions with the music video once it has been finished.

WEEKLY PRODUCTION LOG: Week 1

This week we had all finished our PITCH presentations and got feedback from the audience in whom we presented it to. I had to upload both of the videos to blogger and you tube and then give a brief reflection of it as a whole from my point of view and the audiences point of view on blogger.  We then paired up with someone ‘I’m with Aisha’ so that we are able to work with someone and focus on one video other than two videos. We both decided to chose my idea because it was more simple yet relatable to the audience more than what hers was. The reason why I am with Aisha is because I think that she has the same ideas as me and we would be able to relate each idea to the other and expand on the overall outcome of what we would want it to look like. When we decided to be together, we had to make a short video and answer a few questions of why we chose to work with each other and if there would be any problems in the production schedule. Once the video was over and done with, we had to do a production plan in which we laid what would happen and who would be in the video at each part of the video by matching it up with the chorus, verse and outro. We also included an intro because at the beginning of the song, there is a slight set up which can be used to start of the narrative side to the video as a whole.

Pitch & Reflection

In my opinion, I thought that in my presentation, I had excelled the amount of information that was needed pretty well. I gave a reasonable explanation for every key aspect that I would like to include into my music video. I also gave clear examples for the majority of the things that I would like to include in some way in the music video. Although I thought that my presentation went well as a whole, I think that some of the exampled videos could have been a bit longer so that the audience could have got a better view of what I was going for. I would also like to have added a bit more information on the artists look in which I could have said why I wanted it to be and indie style and how it would have related  it to the music video and genre a bit more.

From what I was able to see and by the questions I was getting, the audience did get a clear view of what my music video was going to be like. They were able to understand a strong structural base of what I am going to build on to increase the e overall look of my video when it comes to the completed edition. All of the questions that I was receiving was to go more into depth about each idea I would want to interpret into the music video at some point. There was strong feedback so that I know that ideas I had gone for would work well as the audience that was there for the presentation were aware. This could mean that a wider audience would also be able to give me the same feedback on my presentation and if not better so I could increase the overall look.

One weakness that was pointed out is that i didn't actually use animation in a way that i wanted it to be shown but it was special effects instead. In this case, I then corrected it to make the audience aware of what I was really trying to show. There was also a point where the actors had no filming time scheduled together so it was a bit confusing to the audience. I then also corrected this and said why they were not needed to film together by using individual footage and edit together and why I would do this as it is a point of view memory. Also not everyone was clear on what was meant by ‘indie’. This was then took into depth and I was able to explain it to the audience as a whole so they knew what it meant and was able to visualize it to my music video idea.

Overall, I think that there could be a few changes to make my music video idea better and more interesting to the viewers. I would maybe have actual scenes with the two actors together to make the video more relatable other than having separate footage and having to edit over it. Although it is a point of view flashback, if there was an actual scene with them together, it would make it more relatble and interesting. I would also try looking into a more understandable look so that it would appeal to more people as ‘Indie’ was clearly not a high up attraction to the audience in which I presented my pitch to because they didn't know what it meant. I would also add a few effect in there to emphasize each shot such as slow motion when the class breaks etc.

Rationale

Artist's Identity

Robert Staines is a 19 year old male who is originally from Essex. He set up a you tube account in which he done covers of songs. He then started to write his own songs and post them up to and still does both on a steady basis. All of his covers and own songs are piano acoustics which means there isn't much of a beat but you can still get the vibe from the song. He goes for more indie type songs as it best suit's his voice and style. A good example that fits his style of music would be 'Arctic Monkeys- Why'd you only call me when you're high'. This is because the tomes of the voice bets fits to his. His clothing would stick to indie just like his music genre. This is because it will link in well with what he does. An indie style is more shirts, leather and denim layered up on top of each other. A basic outfit would be skinny dark jeans with suede shoes or boots, a shirt and a leather jacket. This is the basics to the outfit but then can be made more effective by using accessories such as sun glasses, a beanie or leather bands.The colours that i would use for my artist are more rustic colours such as dark blues, browns, reds and blacks. This is because they have a more rustic feel to them and they all go well together. No matter how many of these colours you put together, in some way they will all link really well together and will emphasize on that indie vibe. George Ezra and Passenger both have the indie style of what the artist will be portrayed as also. The typography best used for the logo would be 'Serial Publication by KC fonts' as it sticks to the indie vibe and has an authentic look to it. It would also look good on any imagery and still stand out as it has an old shabby look to it. The mise-en-scene that i would use is more outdoors to fit his song. This is because it will relate to his lyrics as well as theme and genre. I would use open spaces such as a field to emphasize lyrics and also enclosed spaces like a small room to also show the lyrics meanings. There would also be a few places along shabby roads to make the video more enthusiastic to the style. The imagery that comes in mind about their song is about a girl they care about. As this is what i see, i would use a girl as the main focus point throughout the video. I would have imagery of her walking alone and running in open space to show the different sides there are to her in which can be manipulated which will also link up to the lyrics in the song. She would have a feminine indie look to her which makes her look suttle and if anything pure but a twist. This would be to show the different sides that someone can have.This is the person that i would have play the character in my video as she originally has that look that i am going for and would fit perfectly in the style of music video i would want to present.

Analysing your song

These are the lyrics to my song that i have chosen to use which is Sweetheart by Robert Staines.

These are the analysis of the lyrics to what i think the meaning is of them.

Through these lyrics and the meanings of what i think they mean, i would say that this song is more for late teenager to adults as it is more on love and relationships. Although young people have relationships, they don't understand the true meaning of it and mostly fall for lust which is completely different and often leads to short relationships. By these meanings, it is showing someone care for someone else and not wanting them to change in to something they are not made to be just because of thoughts that run through their minds. The gender is both for male and female as it is based on relationships whether they are the opposite sex or the same. Either way the feelings would still remain the same as it is an intimate relationship. The location of the song originally is just Robert performing in a room but through the depth of the lyrics, it can be taken to various locations. An outdoors location would fit best as it would symbolize the freedom that one partner is willing to give to the other in willing for them not to change. The temp of the song is a steady pace as it is telling a serious and meaningful story to it. the tempo then becomes more vigorous as it comes to the chorus. To visually communicate this into my own video, i would emphasize the relationship between two people. I would use various locations to show the change in mood that occurs in a relationship and the location will also link to the lyrics, like when it says 'Stars' i will do an outdoor shot at night of the sky. By having these types of shots, it will show a link to the song through the story line. There would be a lot of couple shots as well as single shots to show the difference there is between the two and the emotions through the separation. I would also have an argument scene to show the reason to this song and what is the problem of the situation. By having these types of scenes, will show all the different types of emotions that are enhanced through the song lyrics.