Filming Part 2

We have managed to successfully finish filming our video today, and editing will commence soon, in the hope we will have a completed Music Video before the end of the year. We are still well behind in our Production Schedule, and must work harder in future to produce good standards of work as quickly as we can.

Below are the Advantages and Disadvantages we have found of our footage.

Advantages
We have found the main advantage of our footage to be that it is quite amusing to watch, which is the audience response we had been hoping to achieve, as our video is of the Parody genre. This relates back to the idea of escapism from modern society, or Diversion when applied to Blumler and Katz theory of "Uses and Gratifications". We have also used a wide variety of different shots, and have combined both narrative ideas with performance aspects, to coincide with the theory of Andrew Goodwin.



Disadvantages
The main disadvantage of our footage, is that we probably don't have enough, and so will have to repeat shots if we cannot make any more time for filming. However, as we are already well behind schedule, this is highly unlikely, and so therefore we may have to look at supplementing our finished video with effects, to make it last longer. The other alternative is editing the music, and cutting it slightly short.

Camera battery life was also a problem we encountered, as the camera we used originally died halfway through filming, and so we had to switch to using another camera. This also had very little battery, which meant we had to cut filming short, which will hopefuly not prove as significant in the long run.

Filming Part 1

We have still not managed to begin filming, and are falling rapidly behind the deadlines we set ourselves in the Production Schedule at the start of the year. We will commence filming for definite next lesson, and hope to have it completed and edited by the end of the year.

Questionnaire Results

We have managed to finally collect the results of our questionnaire, and have formulated tables and graphs below. The main problem we encountered with this part, was the fact that it took so long to collect the results in and make the graphs, and once again we find ourselves behind the deadlines we originally set from our Production Schedule. We will endeavour to work hard in the coming weeks with hope that we can manage to stick to the deadline.

The fact that the top two genres our target audience listen to are Rock and Pop has helped us, as the genre of the song we will use is Pop. The music channels that the majority of people watch also accomodate more chart singles, as opposed to parody videos, which will hopefully help us in the fact that they may not have stereotyped views of the genre, therefore meaning they are more likely to accept our video and interpret it with a "Hegemonic Reading".

At the time that we conducted our questionnaire, artists such as J.L.S, Cheryl Cole, The Black Eyed Peas and Alexandra Burke were at the top of the charts, and so are likely to have been influential on the results of our questionnaire. By examining the difference in age between artists such as these, and the people we asked, there is not a lot of difference, and so the ideas conveyed by Keith Negus do not seem to be apparent at this day and age.

The majority of the singers around at the time of the questionnaire have also had several number one hit singles in the past few weeks/months, and so it can be interpreted that they have become "Commercial Exhibitionists" through Sven Carlsson's theory. Because of this, it means they are likely to rely very heavily upon appearances, which reinforces Laura Mulvey's "Male Gaze" theory, which is a theory that has featured very prominently in recent music videos.

By using The Black Eyed Peas as an example, it is also somewhat evident that there is still some truth in Emanuel Levy's theory about Hollywood film stars. In the band, the lead singing female, Fergie, is seen as a victim of the "Male Gaze", therefore making her attractive to the viewer. When contrasted with other group members, such as Taboo, who often appears looking somewhat scruffy and with long hair, it would appear that the female star does take more pride in looking beautiful and youthful, which agrees with Levy's theory.

Questionnaire/Initial Ideas

Questionnaire

We have finished the draft for our Questionnaire, albeit much later than we had originally anticipated. The draft document is included below. From the questionnaire, we hope to learn more about the target audience for our music video. We will try to ask people of a wide range of ages, however we will focus more on asking younger people, as they are the target audience that we are aiming our video at. By learning about people's age and their favorite genre of music, we will also be able to establish the relevance of Keith Negus' theory of popular music, and whether younger generations listen to music made by older artists.

By questioning the target audience for our music video, we will also be able to estimate whether they will enjoy the style of video that we intend to make, which could be important in us establishing a "Hegemonic Reading", in terms of the Encoding/Decoding model.

We will hand out the questionnaire today, and collect the results and formulate tables/graphs as soon as we can.

Initial Ideas

Our original idea that we preliminarily finalised on was an idea that involved a stripping 'audition' set against a performance of "You Can Leave Your Hat On" by Joe Cocker. It would begin with a short sequence of acting without the song to establish the scene and then the music would begin and the performance would be used as a multi-strand narrative along with the comedic stripping audition story-line. In relation To Sven E. Carlsson's music video theory, this idea would have been a "conceptual clip" which means it integrates a visual story with a lip-synced performance of the song. We eventually had to pack this idea in because it required too many actors and where we may have been able to get willing victims, we did not want to be too dependent on too many other people because if they let us down, did not take it seriously or were simply not good at the part then it could have been detrimental to our finished product and grade.

Initial Photography

We next adopted a completely different idea. We went from a traditional music video idea to an artistic one. The video would have been set to a possible Coldplay record and it would have attempted to make the audience think and have an influence on them with its abstractness and subtly clever ideas. The video would have been about the solitude yet romanticism of isolation. It would have focused on solely one character throught. In terms of Sven E. Carlsson's theory, this would have been a "narrative clip" meaning that it would have been ultimately a short move set to a musical backdrop. According to Carlsson, a true narrative clip contains no lip-syncing or performance of the song.

Even though we really fancied making a comedy video because it was something we had not tried but had curiously wanted to, we were excited about the idea of a narrative clip because we believed in doing so we could use our film production skills to make a video that incorporated many technical and skilled elements of film production that would showcase the best of our abilities. We went out and took some initial promotional photographs as a means of inspiration and testing for the look of the proposed idea.

(Click to make full size)

We used a combination of effects of Macromedia Fireworks to create these images and we were quite pleased with the zeitgeist we had created for a potential film. Eventually however, the idea fell through due to lack of a rock solid plot-line and an improved idea regarding the comedy genre we had wanted to see if we could pull off.

Media Questions

I believe my understanding of media texts has developed significantly in the past year. By experimenting with things such as scripts and storyboards, my skills at creating written elements has developed. In terms of practical skills, my skills at photography have developed, particularly through the first unit, which involved taking photos, and using still cameras. Also my skills at filming with video cameras have developed through the crime film, and the preliminary task. Also through using programs such as Final Cut and Photoshop, my skills have developed and I am becoming more confident with both of them.

I believe I am quite good at both practical and written elements, however I am particularly skilled at filming - through the crime film and the preliminary task, and using photoshop.

I believe that I am relatively good at using Photoshop and Final Cut, however I can get better and would like more practice. I would also like to attempt using Garage Band to make music for future projects.

I have learnt that it is best to stick to the original plan, and film as early as possible rather than leaving it too late and having to rush the editing. I have also learnt basic skills at using practical and written programs and hope to develop them further.

I (somehow) achieved an A at AS Media, and I am not sure of my current target grade, however I would assume it is either an A or a B.

Production Schedule

The following is a preliminary Production Schedule for every Media lesson we have up until the project deadline. We hope to stick to these dates as best we can, unless circumstances drastically change.

15th September 2009 – Deadline for choice of brief/Begin research
17th September – Continue reasearch
22nd September – Formulate list of possible ideas/Continue with research
24th September – Annotate possible song lyrics/Continue with research
29th September – Decide on idea and begin planning/Finish research
1st October 2009 – Write up information on target audience
6th October – Begin planning
8th October – Complete stages of planning - production schedule, draft questionnaire. Begin storyboarding.
13th October – Continue storyboarding/Hand out questionnaire to class and collect results
15th October – Analyse results and formulate tables and graphs to show results/Continue storyboarding
20th October – Complete storyboarding
22nd October – Photoshoot for location report, cast/costume/prop list

- HALF TERM –

3rd November 2009 – Finalise location report, cast/costume/prop list and all outstanding sections of planning
5th November – Finish all outstanding work/Acquire music for filming
10th November 2009 – Begin filming – also take photos for DVD Cover
12th November – Continue filming – take photos for Magazine Advert
17th November – Continue filming
19th November – Finalise filming
24th November – Finish filming
26th November – Begin editing film – Prepare shots
1st December 2009 – Continue editing film/Upload all photos taken for Print Products
3rd December – Continue editing film/Begin editing DVD Cover
8th December – Continue editing film – Add music/Continue editing DVD Cover
10th December – Finalise editing film/Finalise editing DVD Cover
15th December – Finish editing film/Finish editing DVD Cover
17th December – Finish any outstanding work that needs completing

- CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY –

5th January 2010 – Begin editing Magazine Advert
7th January – Continue editing Magazine Advert
12th January – Finish editing Magazine Advert/Begin evaluation
14th January – Continue evaluation
19th January – Hand in draft evaluation/Complete any outstanding work
21st January – Edit evaluation according to feedback
26th January – Make any final changes to any work that needs it/Ensure blog is completely finished
January 28th – DEADLINE DAY – Ensure blog is completely finished and everything is uploaded