Planning: Filming Location

The locations of where we will film our music video will be extremely important to what the music video will end up looking like. We have had to consider a lot of different factors when choosing our music video locations. One thing that we have to be aware of is the availability of the location and this may be a problem with a couple of the locations that we are planning to film in. Another thing that we will have to watch out for would be the general location on where it is and how far we will have to travel to get there. 

Location 1 - Theater

I intend to film most of the music video in the theatre as most of the music video will be the performer in front of a green screen. This will mean that the green screen will be needed for this part of the music video. The point of filming in this location is so we are able to have a spacious and quite location so we are able to film the lip syncing parts of the music video.There is one possible problem with the location and that is the availability of the location. We decided that this would be a good location because of the high ceilings as well as how much space there actually is. Events often take place in this location so we will have to make sure that we book the area well in advance of when we need to film in there.

Location 2 - Corn Fields

During the music video there will be a scene in the music video in which there are 2 children who are posing as the current day artist and his girlfriend in the past are meeting and running through the fields. We have chose this location because once again it is a good open space in which a lot of filming can be done in the one location. The 2 children in the corn fields are a boy and a girl who are boyfriend and girlfriend. The boy is the past version of the artist who will feature in the video. The one problem with this location is that we are unable to change any of the lighting as it is an outdoor area. So on the day we are hoping for good weather and good lighting. If it is bad weather or lighting it means we will have to go and either film on a different day or increase the lighting on the video whilst editing it. 

Planning: Storyboard & Animatic

Now that myself and Ryan have thought of the idea for our music video we began to put together the storyboard animatic. Firstly, we needed to do the story board part which is easy as we need to put our thoughts onto paper in drawings. We got several paper cards and drew on them with the shots we wanted for our music video. We then made a timeline in which we placed the panels along to clearly show in which order we want the shots.

Making the animatic requires good artistic skills to clearly represent what we want the shots to look like, however the drawings were not very good but they still got the idea across to the viewer. Whilst editing the animatic I needed to make sure that if the were cuts to the beat at points in the song then I had put them in. Throughout the production of my animatic I put in a lot of cuts to the beat.

Here are all of the panels that were used for the animatic. We used some of the panels several times to give a feeling of memories etc. These are not in the order used in the animatic.

Here is the timeline with the panels placed across it, this is our first thoughts and therefore the finished animatic will have developed and changed to make it better, changes that we needed to make were found in the editing process.

Here is the completed animatic of the song 'Summer'.

The process of completing the animatic instead of just taking some photos of a storyboard was extremely important because it helps us to visualise what the music video is going to look like and now we just need to replace the drawings with actual shots. Making this animatic also gave me the chance to practice with Premiere Pro beforehand. Practicing cutting to the beat and other effects for this animatic is very helpful as these effects will be used for the final product.

Now the animatic is completed I will move onto the other parts of pre-production. I will now do my location planning and casting etc. for my final product.

Research and Planning: Self Assessment

Research into existing music videos

I believe that my work for this particular section is in the low basic high minimal. This is because i don't have a second existing music video yet and this is what is needed to be done to get a higher grade for this section. The detail in the one existing music video, i believe is good as i have explained everything that is needed to be explained and it makes it easier for the reader to choose the costume if they were to re-create the video.

Research into a potential target audience

I believe that the work for this particular section would be good because i have managed to create a person who would be the perfect target audience for the artist that i have chose. There are a few things that can be added to the post to make it look better like  picture for example of what the person would look like.

Work on Storyboarding

From what is actually on my blog at this exact point i am unable to give myself a mark as there is no evidence on my blog. The work is ready to be put onto the blog but isn't up yet.

Time Management

The time management on my blog started off well but as i have went through less and less is getting posted to my blog every week. One reason for this is that we stopped the coursework in class to be able to look at the exam. My time management at this time is poor as my posts are too spread out.

Use of digital technology or ICT

There is a good use of ICT throughout my blog as there are different means of looking at my work and it isn't just text. There is an emaze there as well so you are able to look through that as well which is good use of digital technology but more could be added.

Communication Skills

The communication skills throughout my blog are good as it is easy to read and there are no grammatical errors that i can find on my blog.

Level of Care taken in the Presentation of Work

The level of care that has been taken on all my work is good and it is all well explained on what was needed to have been done on each task. The level of care on my work is high on most of my work as i ty to make my work as detailed as possible.

Research: Green Screen and Lip Sync Practice

In this task we were asked to edit some footage and create a short video where you are able to see the lip syncing on the video as well as how to remove the green screen. In the pictures below you are able to see what i had to do at different stages and throughout the process.

After i got the video and the actual song that i want to edit into the timeline then i added the eight-point garbage matte which allows me to remove some of the green screen before actually removing the green on the actual video.

With the garbage matte you are then able to move the green into where you want. You have to be careful that you are not putting into the body of the person you are trying to get the green screen off of.

Then you need to put a ultra key on there as well. This has to go on the video you want to remove.

Planning: Music Video Pitch for Frank Hamilton "Summer"

Planning: Creating an Online Mood Board

In this task I was asked to collect images to be able to create the online mood board. The images I chose were based on what featured in most of the Frank Hamilton music videos. I have chosen the pictures based on the key features within that music video. This is why one of them is having a close up of the artist within the music video. Another thing I chose to get a picture of was the formal tops that he wears in nearly all of his music videos. For some of the pictures I only had to type in Frank Hamilton and then it came up with him performing and all the album art work that I wanted as well.

Below you will be able to click the link and it will take you to my mood board on Frank Hamilton. Also to the right you will be able to see under half of the whole mood board.

Click Here to see the Mood Board.

Research: Lyric Analysis of 'Summer // Frank Hamilton

To give me a better understand of the song I have chosen I did some lyric analysis, I found the lyrics on the artist's website. From the lyrics to this song I interpreted that when he is talking about 'summer' this is a girl that used to be his girlfriend but they were separated some how and he wants to find her. I know this because at the start it reads 'summer where have you been' then it follows on to say 'I've been trying to remember how you feel on my skin', this tell us that Summer is a person that he then goes on to express how he feels about as the song continues on.

Throughout the song he then goes on to sing about how he feels about her with the chorus implying he will never change how he feels about her.

I have made notes and went into detail about the lyrics some more as shown here:

Afterwards I then went on a website called WordItOut which I entered the lyrics of this song into and made a map of the lyrics with the most used words being the biggest. From the word map you can see  that the most used words are 'summer' which is the name of the song which is a convention to see the song name used a lot in a song, 'change' and 'hope' were also used a lot which are usually used in love songs.



My Chosen Song

Research: Who are the target audience for my artist?

Sam is 18 and was born in Kettering. He is currently at university studying music. Sam loves a lot of different types of music and he also likes to be different. The usual people would go for Ed Sheeran but that's why he likes Frank, because he is the same style but at the same time a different artist. He is a singer songwriter as well this is because he was inspired by the work that Frank Hamilton does. Sam has a lot of different genres of music as well. This is also because he likes to be unique and he doesn't like to follow the crowd.

One thing that Sam does like to do is watch YouTube videos of the different chords he would be able to play on the guitar and he teaches himself them. Sam also likes to perform with his band that he is in. This is why he got into song writing. Sam doesnt really have a lot of friends that like the same sort of music as him as he is into multiple genres.

One thing Sam cant live without is his social media. This is because he likes to be up to date with all of the different types of music that are around at that time. He likes to watch interviews with his favourite artists to see if they are bringing out any new music soon. He also likes to check his twitter and facebook a lot to find out if any of these artists are performing anywhere. Sam is the type of boy who would go to the concerts to watch his idols perform and he would try and mime the words as they go.

Research : Who Are The Target Audience For My Artist?

You now need to move away from your chosen artist and think about who their target audience is.

This is vitally important before you move forwards as you are producing a promotional package and you must know who you are appealing to with your music video, CD Digipack and Music Magazine Advertisement.

Most magazines produce media kits or press kits for prospective advertisers - these allow them to promote themselves and for advertisers to commission advertisements in the most cost-effective and targeted manner.

Looking at a media kit helps you to se just how much effort is put into the identification of a target audience.

Create a post titled Research : Who Are The Target Audience For My Artist?

Take a sheet of paper and create a pen portrait for a typical member of your artist's target audience that includes as much information about them as possible.

• What age are they?
• What sort of things are important to them?
• How do they dress?
• What types of music do they listen to?
• What do they read? Watch? etc
• How do they use social media?
• How do they spend their time?

Research: Existing Music Video (Frank Hamilton/Summer)

Cuts Match the Music

The cuts in the video match the beats in the music. This is shown throughout the whole of the video. The cuts in the video change from when it was the past and from when it is the present day. This happens throughout the whole of the video which means it follows the conventions of a music video.

Projector effect

Another thing that happens in the music video is where Frank Hamilton stands in from of a projector and the fields are in the background. This is to give the effect of his younger self in the fields with the girl called Summer, which is also the name of the song. This creates a good effect because when they go back to the past they are in the corn fields. Whilst this effect is in use there is a close up of the artist in the whole of this projector effect.

Chorus has faster cuts

The chorus of this song has a lot faster cuts because there are a lot more beast within the chorus. From the 52nd second there is a series of cuts of where Frank is sitting in the same place over and over again. This shows that he goes to the coffee shop a lot to be able to think about the lyrics he is going to write. You can tell that he is righting about a song because later in the song as he is leaving the place he puts away his note book which is likely to have his song ideas.

Mise-en-scene 

The costume of Frank hasn't really been chosen that carefully as through the different outfits that he does wear they are nearly the same as they are all just shirts. His younger self doesn't wear hat type of top which means he has changed over time. This isn't 100% true though because  when he was younger he did wear some shirts but mostly T-shirts. The girl in the coffee shop had exactly the same necklace from when she was younger. This is shown through the way she leans down and the necklace falls out her top.

Overall, I feel like this is a good music video. There are a lot of different conventions used within this music video and they are used very well. This is a love sort of song as it is about a girl called Summer and how she left him and then they found eachother.

Research into existing Music Video: Jack Garratt - Breathe Life

The music video that i have decided to look into is "Breathe Life" by Jack Garratt. The opening shot of the music video is a shot of what looks like a rocky beach and this shot then pulls out and goes underwater where you are able to see Jack Garratt.

This is only for a small amount of time though. At 19 seconds his head appears from the water and at 21 seconds there is a birds eye view of Jack as he begins to sing his song still with only his head out of water.

At 41 seconds it then goes to a side on shot of Jack and still he is within water and only his head is visible.

At 1 minute 10 seconds you are able to see a figure in the water with Jack for a very small amount of time.

At 1.13 the beat kicks in and 6 synchronised swimmers jump out of the water surrounding Jack.  Until 1.13 there is only a very slow beat and there is a sad feeling that is within the music.

At 2.06 there is another beat drop and once again the swimmers jump out of the water as the beat drops within the song. This is as if the swimmers are in time with the music throughout the song. At 2.45 it seems as if Jack is giving up and he is now upright within the water and is looking worried. At 2.50 you get a shot of the back of his head and you want to know what is happening to him. From 2.50 to 3.18 there is a very strange beat in the background that i think is meant to represent his heart beat as he tries to breathe within the water. Then at 4.01 Jack doesn't sing anymore and starts to fall in the water and the swimmers are there to catch him and take him back to shore which could entail that the swimmers are Jacks angels. At 4.30 the shot begins to crane up and then you just get a look at the open and empty lake.

 Overall, I would say that the music video is slightly random as i don't really get what is going on with it. But i do like how when he is within water he is surrounded with the swimmers and how they are synchronised with the beat of the music throughout the whole of the music video.

Research Into Existing Music Video: Ed Sheeran - Bloodstream

Here is a picture of the notes that I had made whilst watching the music video.

The music video that I have decided to look into is "Bloodstream" by Ed Sheeran. The reason that I chose this music video to research this song is because Ed Sheeran is a very similar artist to Frank Hamilton who is the artist that I have picked to use for my music video. Researching this music video will help me a lot as it will allow me to pick out codes and conventions to use in my own music video.

At the start of the music video you can see what is going to happen to the actor in the music video at the end of the story, and as the audience it makes you think how has he got himself into this position and makes you want to watch the video and find out. I think this is a very effective way to intrigue people and get them to watch the whole music video.

From 0:01 until 1:15 in the song you can really get a sense of what the actor is feeling, with the slow music and slow cuts along with the depressing scenes such as the one where he is in a big room around a big table, by himself. You can see that the actor is depressed and lonely in his big house by himself and you can tell that this is could be what drove him into the state that you can see him in at the start.

At 1:15 onwards until near the end of the song you can see that he has decided that he has had enough of feeling depressed and lonely therefore he has started to use his money to host huge parties and the slow motion effect shows this happening throughout. At this point you can really understand his path.

Throughout the song there is a lot of cutting to the beat which really makes you feel engaged with the song that you are listening to and the music video that you are watching. At 3:12 there is an example of this where the actor shoots glass and it cuts along with the beat at this point. This happens a lot during the song and is definitely something I will include within my music video.

At around 3:50 in the song the pace of the music starts to get really slow therefore the cuts and slow pans follow in the music video, whilst still cutting to the beat so that you still feel really engaged with the music video. At this point you can see the whole story come together, from slow and depressing music along with slow cuts and pans up to partying with fast cuts and music then back down to a depressed actor again. 

Overall, I love this music video. When you listen to the song without a music video you just enjoy it for the lyrics and rhythm however when you have the music video along side the music you feel like you are a part of the song and you know the story behind it which I find to be a great way of engaging the audience. After watching this music video I would want to watch another of Ed Sheeran's music videos and enjoy those.

My AS Results

Looking at my results i think that i did better on the second part than what i did on the first part. But until i see the results for the particular section i won't know. I also think that i could have revised more for both sections of the exam as i didn't do a huge amount of revision.
I actually did equally on both which i was surprised about. I actually did better on the first section by a few marks.

Research: In-Depth Artist research

Frank hamilton is a singer songwriter and producer. He is mostly known for his One Song A Week project. He spent the whole of 2012 producing and filming and releasing the one song a week. Most of the songs were filmed on his laptop and were filmed in his living room. These songs were released every Friday along with a blog post about his life. Best of #OneSongaWeek was the name of the album that he then released. The album was rush- released to be able to get it on to the i-tunes charts. He spent most of the week at No.1 in the iTunes singer/songwriter section outselling Ed Sheeran and Jake Bugg.


Frank Hamilton has a lot of different social media websites. These include:
FaceBook
Youtube
Twitter
And he also has his own website.


Here is one of the music videos:

And here you can see an interview he had with driftwood: