Last Minute Editing:

The first draft of the music video is tomorrow, today's lesson was used to do some last minute editing. However, we lost some time due to a fire bell [and there was no fire.] We realised we needed some more shots to break up the long corridor clips. My filming post reveals this in more detail.

Last Minute Filming [First Draft]:

WE HAVE DECIDED THAT WE NEED PERFORMANCE SHOTS TO ADD VARIETY TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO.  THE GUITAR IS PLAYED BY THE PROTAGONIST. 


Drumming Shots:

Watching the almost finished first draft of our music video, there seems to be a lot of corridor scenes that needed separating. As the drums play an important part of the song it makes sense to get some drum shots to accompany the guitar and bass clips. I spoke to a friend who plays the drums about it and he recommended someone else due to the speed of the song and a dodgey wrist. There are some dodgy lip-syncing too which we could replace with something else.

This is the email I sent the drummer:

He happily obliged!

SWCHS Music Block:

Once i sent my initial email i went to the school music department and asked for permission to film there ... permission was granted! However, the mise-en-scene looks unplanned.

Filming and Editing:

I got some mid shots of arms and symbols as well as a variety of other shots which would then be used to break up the corridor shots. And voila, variety is created!

Mise-en-scene and Audience:

COSTUME:

Initially we were going to dress the protagonist in Indie clothes [skinny jeans, leather jackets, bright t-shirts and Converse shoes] but the actor did not have such clothing. As a result he was dressed in scruffy clothing to connote his lack of love for life and care for himself.  This relates well to the narrative but not as much to the music video's audience. However, everyone loses care in themselves sometimes so Pistola Kicks's wide audience can relate to it, thus engaging them in the song and video. The band's music is all about realistic situations like this, as proved by their Myspace page, so their audience would like this. We will find a way to involve Indie costume in which the audience and many Indie bands wear.

Indie Clothing:

The band 'The Pigeon Detectives' are of the same genre as Pistola Kicks and dress in the same manner as Pistola Kick's fans do. The protagonist would have dressed like this but that was not possible.

Scruffy Clothing:

Scruffy clothing seemed the next best option in relation to the song and its themes. This man in this picture is deliberately scruffy but the protagonist is even more so.

Introductory filming:

TODAY, MONDAY 17TH JANUARY 2011, I FILMED THE INTRODUCTORY ESTABLISHING SHOTS AT GREAT CHESTERFORD.

I booked a camera, collected it and set off filming as soon as I got back when it was still light. There were two main shots I aimed to get: a field and a street. Originally the street shots were supposed to be done in Saffron Walden's high street, however the quiet village of Great Chesterford is better. In the storyboard the streets were busy, but empty streets are better in terms of narrotive because they show the sleeping street compared to the early-working protagonist. In the storyboard there is a rolling hill and a rising sun, there is no such location in Great Chesterford and a sleeping street starts the narrotive better.


I filmed two fields and many streets to have as much footage as possible to choose from. Unfortunately it took me a while to upload my location shots onto my computer and as a result I got confused as to when they were filmed. I saw a post entitled 'location shots' and assumed I filmed then. I didn't, this was referring to earlier filming. As a result my location shots are located in a post entered on 2nd December 2010. 

Personal Filming Deadlines.

IN ORDER TO FINALLY FILL IN THE GAPS AT THE BEGGINING OF OUR MUSIC VIDEO WE HAVE COME UP WITH THIS PLAN ...

By wednesday next week (19th January) we plan to get the following filming done:

1. The walking down locations and singing the first bit of the song (locations: school coridoor, Tesco in Saffron walden (if we get permission), Saffron Walden street, Saffron Walden Common.
2. The "home" chorus bit.

Problem:

I planned to get the scenery footage done today in Great Chesterford (13th January) but forgot to book a camera. Therefore i will film tommorow instead and book (and collect) the camera as soon as i get the chance.

Current Lesson Work.

DURING LESSONS AND BEYOND OUR MUSIC VIDEO HAS BEEN TAKING SHAPE.

During the practical media lessons, and occasionally out of lessons, we have been editing our music video. We have left spaces for the footage yet to come and got the scenes where the protagonist is speeding down a corridor (before he starts singing) pretty much done. It is the same for the first verse (without the jump cuts showing the protagonist walking away from the room.) We have also been viewing other clips such as the protagonist playing video games and singing "whatever happened to" in unison to the music seeing what we can do without the rest of our footage.

One lesson (tuesday) we got our research and planning in our blogs marked. Mine was in the "basic" catogory due to the lack of audience research and explanation on why my research is relevant. I now know i need to go into more depth with my research.

Attempt at filming the "fun" scenes part two 2011.

MONDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING, THE PERFECT TIME TO RELAX WITH FRIENDS ... WITH A CAMERA IN YOUR FACE.

Monday evening was a perfect opportunity to film to fill in the gaps in our music video. In the lesson Dave (the one with the contacts) texted the actors to see if they were free to film the "fun" scenes in the evening. Unfortunately they were not, thus leaving our music video looking rather like emmentaler cheese. But a mighty fine piece of cheese it is.

After the Christmas Holidays.

WHERE WE ARE NOW AND PLAN TO BE IN THE NEAR FUTURE ...

Before the Christmas holidays we planned to get the rough draft of our music video finished (or at least started) and posted on our blogs. We started our music video and were ready to export what we got, but came across a problem. We did not save our clips onto the mac, therefore we had no edited footage to export as they were "offline." We could do nothing but wait until the start of the new term to sort out the issue. In the meantime we planned to film the "fun" scenes, or at least Dave did due to his better access to actors and lack of school cameras.

After the Christmas holidays we fixed the problem and our music video was resored to its former "online" glory. But Dave was ill on the last day meaning we got no footage. However we still have plenty of footage in the mean time and edit we shall.

Inspiration: Kasabian "Vlad the Impaler"

Kasabian are of the Rock/Alternative genre yet they also cross over into Indie territory too. This means their media texts could influence ours through Indie conventions. This media text by Kasabian is very similar to ours in many ways as dark, washed out colours are used to create negative connotations about this sinister character. In our music video this editing technique has been used to express the downbeat narrative of the song which is shown through the protagonist and his dull life. There are also several tracking shots of the man walking in the centre of the frame, much like ours will have. The clips are in time to the music, which is very effective. If we use these conventions and techniques our music video could be very similar to this.

Indie Album Artwork:

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF ALBUM ARTWORK FROM BANDS FROM A SIMILAR GENRE. AS YOU CAN SEE THEY ARE RATHER ARTY AND GRAPHICY, MUCH LIKE PISTOLA KICKS'S EP ARTWORK. WE COULD USE THESE AS INSPIRATION FOR OUR ANCILLARY TASKS. 

I like the use of colour in The Pigeon Detectives album cover. However, this best suits their music and not Pistola Kicks's. To create consistency black and white or washed out colour should be used in our Digi-pack along with realistic but experimental imagery. Two red deer fighting is not realistic or something Pistola Kicks's audience would relate to. However, I like the simplicity and experimental style. Ours could be simple and experimental too. 

Once again this is very experimental in style, yet simple. This works well as the album artwork looks almost like a scrapbook with the way the images of the band have been placed on the page. The band logo has also been used too. We will most likely include experimental features like this and the logo from Pistola Kicks's Myspace page. However, this scrapbook theme seems almost too random and meaningless to be relevant to our song. 

Out of all these album covers 'Whatever you say I am that's what i'm not' by Artic Monkeys seems most relevant. This is because its realistic and downbeat because of the black and white colouring and realistic image - a man smoking. Our Digi-pack will most likely be like this too, yet with a bit more of a experimental style to attract the audience. I like the curvey box the band's logo has been placed in and the use of white to make the black logo stand out against the background image. 

Although this album cover is painted, it is painted in an experimental yet meaningful manner. The dark colour choices and rather downbeat image of someone sleeping work well. It is this type of style we wish to create with our Digi-pack: experimental but realistic. I also like the use of the logo and the album title - not all of these album covers show the album title and it looks better when they do. 

This album cover has been nicely composed and framed, there is so much going on yet it is simple. This uncluttered simplicity is what we wish to create with our Digi-pack. It is both downbeat and cheerful at the same time as a man is wearing black sitting on his own in a dark room - this connotes negativity. However, the sculpture in the centre of the room creates a sense of awe. I also like the use of the band's logo and album title as it finishes the media text off nicely. 

This album cover is very colourful and complex, yet simple at the same time. This is because the main image is very detailed yet the background is white which balances the image nicely. We plan to get this balance of simplicity and experimentalism with our Digi-pack whilst creating meaning. I like how the album title has the same font as the band logo which creates consistency. We could do the same thing with our Digi-pack cover for the same reason and to attract the audience through logo recognition. 

I like this album cover as it is simple yet meaningful. The band name is large so it stands out amongst the intentionally minimal features. The design is experimental yet simple and I like this balance as it is not too much for the audience to handle yet too dull for them to walk away. We have to get this balance with the black and white tones that our Digi-pack will have to be in because of the music video.

Pistola Kicks Artwork:

HERE ARE SOME IMAGES DESIGNED BY THE BAND THEMSELVES WHICH WE COULD USE ON OUR DIGI- PACK AND MAGAZINE ADVERT OR USE AS INSPIRATION. IN THESE WE COULD USE SOME STILLS FROM OUR MUSIC VIDEO.

Pistola Kicks's Official Myspace Banner. We could use the logo in our ancillary tasks so the audience would recognise the it and buy the single. Judging by the experimental style of the photograph we could use stills from our own music video and edit them to create the same kind of effect. 

Pistola Kicks's official EP cover. This is very random yet ornate in style, thus shown by the floral wallpaper background and framed main image. We could use this logo in our ancillary tasks but cannot use this ornate home theme as it does not relate to the song and that is essentially what we are promoting.  This reflects the band's Myspace profile as they want to appear friendly and approachable. An ornate home could represent dedication which could reflect their tone of realistic music. 

An image. Here there is the logo and an image of the band standing under a bridge. This suggests that we should use band images in our ancillary texts, especially the Digi-pack as this is conventionally Indie and something that Pistola Kicks do a lot. As a result so should we if we are to promote their music. The colours are dark which reflects their Myspace page and realistic tone. 

Christmas Break:

During the Christmas break we plan to get some filming done in order to continue editing and fill in the gaps. Meanwhile we will also start to think about our ancillary tasks. 

Final Mise-en-scene etc

HERE ARE THE FINAL ACTORS, PROPS LOCATIONS AND OTHER BITS OF MISE-EN-SCENE.

Actors:






Props:






Locations: