A2 Media Coursework

Since we have sorted out our narrative, we also made a couple of changes for our performance. The initial idea for our performance was simply just a band playing in a studio, but today we've developed that idea into something new. Similar to the second example of our analysed music videos, the performance will be an audition for singers. The location of the performance will probably be in the school hall, the stage (right) could be where the singers audition and the band could be the audience. We are also using the idea of having female actors to sing the song even though the original singer is a man. 

Since our last group meeting we have decided to alter the narrative of the video slightly in order to create a more symbolic meaning. So what we have decided to do now from the original idea is too include band auditions into the narrative. This narrative will be the band looking for a new lead singer , and they will go through numerous contestants until the protagonist of the narrative comes on after his transformation. This will then lead him to go on to become the lead singer of the band and then finish the song as the lead singer. The symbolic meaning behind is not to conform to the expectations of society which is what makes the protagonist stand out from the contestants, also as we see his change in understanding his true identity throughout the video.

Just been told that some of the band members aren't available this Saturday but Sunday instead. We are still planning on filming the opening scene in the car park in Newcastle, whether it's raining or not, the shooting will be set indoors. Unfortunately, all the mounts are booked out, instead we'll be using a tripod in order to film our tracking shots. All the cameras include a tripod, it may be difficult to film without a mount but we just like to make a start with our rough cut.

We've finished our storyboard, which gives us the great opportunity to begin filming our rough cut. Since it's a weekend, everyone is available this Saturday for filming, however, it will begin to rain at between 12:00 and 15:00. We'll probably film as much as we can before 12pm and we shall film either the performance or a scene from the narrative that takes place indoors. We also need to make sure that our "band" is free for filming. It's likely that we will film the opening scene, in other words, we're going to start filming in the car park in Newcastle. No instruments will be provided in this scene, except in the performance. Matty, who is one of the members of the band, will be given the role as the main character for our rough cut. We told him to appear in a casual costume, such as jeans, shirt, hoodie and trainers, and the same with the band, too. Since the video starts with the character looking at his phone, Matty will use his own phone for the p...

"What's my view, how am I supposed to know": refers to social confusion / restraints the character has before he meets the band. "Apply some pressure": social pressure to conform. "What happens when you lose everything? You start all over again": losing friends, status in order to for him to expose his non-conforming self.

   Bridges in town (Newcastle) Unit 44 graffiti, Newcastle Biscuit factory Cobbled streets near grey street Baltic, Gateshead Kommunity, Newcastle System gallery, Leazes street Vane, Pilgrim street 

Today, we've been instructed to film our rough cut after the storyboard's completion. It is likely that we shall finish it off tomorrow and will discuss where we are going to shoot first. We've only got four weeks left until the rough cut deadline, hopefully we'll organise everything first thing in the morning.

Example: 4   Camera work Since this music has an exciting and happy theme, at 1:07, the camera uses a rotational technique visualising the band. As usual, canted angles are used to portray a feeling of madness and excitement. This sort of technique will be difficult for us to film in term of the type equipment used and how to do it exactly. However, like the first example, it uses a reverse tracking shot as the band is singing and walking towards the camera / viewer. Using tracking and reverse tracking shots allows the viewer to feel involved in the music video.   Visuals and lyrics The idea of illustration mostly happens at 1:30 as the actors perform movements that are similar to the lyrics. For example, as soon as Bruno sings "fill my cup put some liquor in it, take a sip and sign the check", one of the members pours him a drink whilst Bruno signs some paper. Most of the lyrics are related to the visuals in this video, but what has "Michelle Pfeiffer...

Example: 3   Camera work There's not much to say about the camera work since this whole video was filmed in one shot. Since we are planning to shoot a number of locations, this strategy would be impossible and difficult. However, there's a tilt shot at the start. If the video just started with a tracking over-the-shoulder shot, not much would happen at the beginning of this video. In other words, it would lack some camera work. I suppose we could include another shooting strategy at the start of our video (maybe zooming out of  the character's phone) instead of beginning it with a low angle over-the-shoulder shot.   Visuals and lyrics The name of the song definitely links to the visuals within this video. As Robbie sings "I believe I'm goin' crazy" all of the actors are wearing peculiar costumes: top hats, gothic leather and one actor was wearing the Union Jack flag at 2:15. Near the start, Robbie didn't sing the first few lyrics of the s...

Example: 2 Camera work The director uses a crab shot of the singer, panning around the front of the singer at a low angle. This almost looks like a point of view from the audience allowing the viewer to feel involved in the audience. Although there's going to be no audience watching the band play, we might be able to include a hand held shot. Using hand held shots creates realism and can still involve the viewer the same way crab shots do. Visuals and lyrics For illustration, the title of the song is called "Feel Right" and the audience in this music video enjoys and supports the band as they thought the performance was brilliant. For contradiction, the main actor sings "curtain's going up, it's coming down" at 1:30, however, the stage curtains didn't move. Furthermore, most of the lyrics the actor sings doesn't relate to the visuals as they didn't appear in the video. Mise-en-scene From the start of the video, the singer...

 Here are some images I took for the progress so far with our storyboard. Unfortunately, it's not finished yet - just needs a few adjustments and some finishing touches to it. Hopefully, it'll be completed by the end of this week but in the meantime we'll keep you posted with our analysis of existing music videos that all have the same genre as ours.    

Christopher: blogger Luke: camera director Charlie: creative director Tommy: organiser It might be possible that we shall include other students or actors to participate in our music video.

These are the images of the locations we're planning to shoot. They were supposed to appear on Blog No.8 but failed.

Example: 1 Camera work There were no high or low angles used in this video because of their meaning and representation. For example, a high angle can make the viewer dominant and a low angle can make the viewer defenceless. This can suggest the reason why they didn't want to portray any strong or weak characters in the video.  For our video, we'll visualise the main character in a high angle above one of the members' shoulder and a low angle visualising them. This allows the viewer to understand how, at the start, the protagonist feels like the odd-one-out of the group.  However, there was a scene that was shot  in a canted angle. Canted angles usually represent the feeling of being free and connotes the idea of being "crazy". This can suggest how this song is so "happy" it cancels out the cliché idea of having straight camera angles. Visuals and lyrics In terms of illustration, every actor in this video is dancing with a ...

Ship Inn This location is found near Manors metro station in Ouseburn. We thinking about shooting on the vandalised side of the inn since graffiti resembles the era the band lives in. This could be the setting of the performance or narrative if we decide the idea of the protagonist spotting the band at this location. Morrisons car park The Morrisons super market is where our music video will start. This is also where the protagonist will first see the band. We want to shoot in certain locations that are close to us. However, in case this doesn't go to plan, we'll use the one that has levels in Newcastle. Bedroom Although we haven't decided whose bedroom to shoot, this is either where the band is play or where the protagonist changes his appearance. Each stanza of the song is a gradual progression of the character slowly changing his appearance in order to look like the band. Studio Since the studio has all sorts of equipment we can use to shoot our video, this ...

Two days ago, our media teacher showed us three music videos that were based on Goodwin's theory on the different types of relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. These three relationships are "illustration, amplification and contradiction". Illustration takes place where a scene in the video presents a literal meaning to the lyrics of the song. For example, images and shots can be used in order to represent the meaning of the song. Amplification takes place where a scene presents a representation of a meaning continuously. For example: in Pharrell William's "Happy", all the actors dance with a "happy" expression. Finally, contradiction takes place where both the lyric and visual have nothing to do with each other. For example, in Dizzie Rascal's "Goin' Crazy", as soon as he sings "I believe I'm goin' crazy" the scene portrays the actors and himself walking slowly and relaxed instead of acting fast pac...

Today we've printed out the lyrics of our song and (possibly tomorrow) we'll be able to post our annotations. These notes and annotations will be based on where it can be used in the narrative and how they would be able to fit in. Apply Some Pressure  You know that I would love to see you next year I hope that I am still alive next year You magnify the way I think about myself before you came I rarely thought about myself Behind your veil I found a body underneath inside your head were things I never thought about you know that I would love to see you next year I hope that I am still alive next year What's my view? well how am I supposed to know write a review well how objective can I be [X2] you know that I would love to see you in that dress I hope that I will live to see you undressed the every day is part of what consumes me the hate I feel is part of what fuels me I testify to having guilty feelings I must confess I'd like to be ca...

Today we found a new song to use for our music video. The song is called "Apply some pressure" by Mark Ronson. Although this song was released in 2007, the theme of the music represents the 70's era. We are still using our idea for the narrative, where music can bring people together reflected by the Pop genre. We also decided that this type of music provides self-expression, breaking free from the majority and joining the minority.

Wide angle camera needed for entire video. Tracking shot of the band walking/dancing/laughing. Colours contrast each other-symbolic for the narrative, standing out in a conforming society. Will crosscut to the character secretly listening to "Move on up" (diegetic sound). Video could begin with a close up on the character's phone playing the song. Band will run past the character, all shot in slow motion using a wide shot to capture it all (diegetic sound then becomes non-diegetic). Cutaways of each of the members reaction as soon as the character dresses like them. Bedroom scene: eccentric and quick shots, reflecting the care-free yet passionate life of a band member. Lighting would be focused in this location: may include flashing shots on body movements creating silhouettes. Some shots may be difficult to film in a smaller area, performance will be crosscut in several other locations.

Last Friday our group was tasked to pitch our initial ideas to the class and teacher in order to gain their review and feedback. They liked the idea of brining an old song into present day. However, we need to work hard for matching the song with the mise en scene, in other words, we'll need costumes and props that represent the time era. We could also include a narrative theory since we were focusing too much on the performance. Finally, they suggested that we should recreate the idea of the song and concept. Our original sing was going to be "I feel good" by James Brown, but since it had repetitive lyrics we decided to chose "Move on up" by Curtis Mayfield.

Our song The song we all decided on is called " Move On Up ". It was written and sung by Curtis Mayfield and was released in the 1970's. We want our music video to portray a happy narrative, hence, the genre of this song is Classic Soul. The target audience for this song can appeal to all since it presents a light-hearted tone and avoids the use of any taboo language. Narrative We decided that the whole narrative would act as a foreshadow of the main character. In other words, the main character can predict what would happen once he/she has joins a band. There could also be a gradual progress within the video. Every time the protagonist sees the band, his/her appearance (costume) changes at each stage. Certain events within the narrative will happen between the group and the protagonist, however, the ending will cut back to the start of the video (character's decisions) and may present him/her walking towards the group. This could suggest that this type of ...

Coursework project Planning stage (blog). Construction (actual music video, digipak and advert). Evaluation (done as DVD extras). Deadlines October 18th: Rough cut. November 29th: Final cut. December 8th: Digipak & advert. December 20th: Evaluation. Pitch must contain: Your song and details about the artist. Your ideas for what your band/singer identity will be. The lyrics of the song. Your ideas for the narrative/concept of the video. Your plan for the performance elements of the video. Brief requirements of costumes/props/locations/actors etc. Initial ideas for roles within the group. You could also include: An outline of some 'killer shots' you've thought about. Motifs/symbols to be used in your video. Pictures of your locations. A band logo.