Research & Planning: Changes to Initial Ideas & Plan

In order to see the difference between my initial idea and plan of what to create in terms of my music video I have made the changes to my storyboard using post-it notes to show the changes...

Shots 1/2/3 were all the same as planned. Shot 4 I had planned to also use a map as a prop but decided not too when filming. Shots 5/6/7/8 were also stayed as planned.

Shot 9 and 10 (which I had already altered prior to filming) both stayed the same. Shot 11 was changed as instead I filmed two different shots of her making her way to the lake. 12/13/14/15/16/17 were all the same but not necessarily in that exact order, as was 18. Shot 19 I changed so she dropped the necklace to the ground and walks out of shot which made me decide to remove shot 20 of it laying on the floor and then I made it so it fades to black as planned but also added text at the end.

These are all the changes made to the music video and are all positive changes and they all improved the video.

Research & Planning: Time Management - A Reflection

• So far my time management has been good. I ensured that to get the best quality footage for my music video and pictures for ancillary products I needed to leave enough time after researching to both film/shoot and then go into the post-production stages like editing. 
• Now that I have started to edit I am on a stricter schedule as I need to edit the music video and get feedback along the way and then do the same for the other two products. As I am editing the footage/ancillary products on my own MacBook I have left a shorter amount of time than I would have if editing on a school iMac. 

I will update this post when I have finished in order to give a more detailed, overall reflection on my time management for this production. 

Now that I have finished I would say that overall my time management has been good. I'd say so because, as I said above I allocated enough time for everything to ensure it was of a good quality and I also finished before the deadline, showing that I've been efficient. 

Filming: Filming the Music Video & Taking the Ancillary Products Photos

I have now filmed my music video and also taken the photos needed for both my ancillary products. 

A photo of me filming

Setting up a shot

I have now imported all of the footage into iMovie and can start the editing process.

I have started adding the footage into the correct order.

I will now continue to focus on editing the music video and getting feedback along the way. I will also be doing some more research for my ancillary products and also starting to edit them.

Research & Planning: Digipak Information

I have done some research into what I will need to add to the bottom of my digipak, and about the record label, 'Jagjaguwar'.

Here is their 'active artists' which I found on their website.

Here is their page all about Bon Iver. 

Now that I am more educated about the record label and know what is conventionally on the back of a digipak referring to the record label information when editing it I will add all the information in a suitable font which compliments the other font I'd of chosen. To ensure that it sticks to the conventions I will also add a barcode onto the digipak.

Research & Planning: Development of the Digipak

Fold

• I am going to stick to the traditional two fold digipak to stick to the simple theme of the digipak.

Font

• I'm now looking into what font to use using the website dafont.com 

                  

                                     

• I have chosen to use this website because of the massive variety of fonts to choose from. As you can see from above I have already seen some that I might use/try.
• As you can see from the previous album artwork I'm sticking to the hand written theme

Information

I am looking into finding the information needed for the bottom of the back page.

To create authenticity I will add this.

Research & Planning: Digipak

After researching into digipaks I have got a good idea of what I would like the design of mine to be like. I am going to start by sketching some ideas up. I will then get feedback on these initial sketches and then focus on the favoured one. When I focus more on that one I will start looking into things like, font, colour scheme etc.

Sketches

Feedback

Idea One - Simplicity is nice, image being central is appealing to the eye, title/artist might work better on same line, fits the genre well, conventional, appealing, good that it fits existing albums, font matching is a good idea.

Idea Two- Front being the image might be a bit much for the genre/conventions, background out of place with how busy the front will be, need an appealing block colour, title/artist clearly seen which is good, simplicity nice but a little boring.

Final choice

Overall, after getting the feedback above from 10 different people and asking each of them which one they prefer the final outcome was idea one with 7 votes out of 10, idea two having 3.  

Research & Planning: NME

Research & Planning: Final Location, Costume & Props

Location

Here are some pictures of the final location, to see the post which goes into detail about location, click here.

Costume

I decided to dress her in clothes which suit the genre as well as the target audience. Therefore I thought that his outfit fit the genre & the 'indie' target audience. She also wore this bag:

Props

For the necklace I decided to use this one:

I liked this one as the feather could be considered symbolic to her letting go/moving on etc.

Research & Planning: The Plan - Film, Photo & Sound etc

Research & Planning: Sound, Lighting & Composition

Sound

For sound I have previously done a post to see it, click here. 

Lighting & Composition

In order to research into both lighting and composition in more detail I'm going to compare two similar music videos of the same genre - 

Bon Iver - Holocene 

As you can see the lighting in this video is very dystopian and dark. It fits the mood and theme of the song. This is the style I'm going for. To achieve this I will film at sunset and then in editing add a filter onto the image. 

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

In this music video, although its the same genre - Indie Folk - the lighting is completely different. It is much lighter and also very similar to Bon Iver's Holocene that it fits the theme and mood of the song. 

Overall, for mine I have decided to go with more the lighting that Bon Iver has already previously adopted in old videos. It is suitable for the song I have chosen 'Beach Baby' and the narrative I have created. As I said previously I'm going to achieve this by filming at sunset and then in editing add a filter onto the footage. 

Research & Planning: Distribution & Exhibition

Research & Planning: Props

Props

Props - In most music videos sometimes props are used to illustrate the narrative, and when linking the lyrics with visuals, props are commonly used. The props in a music video add to the entertainment side, and can be used in a fun imaginative way. One music video that uses props to make the video more entertaining is ‘Telephone – Lady Gaga ft Beyonce’. 

To make the props suitable to the genre whilst the prop links to the narrative and adds to the story it doesn't add to the entertainment. This is mainly because with the style of video it isn't meant for entertainment it's more just a story/narrative thats spoken through a video and the lyrics.

The props I need;

• A necklace -  
  

This is the sort of necklace I'm looking to get for my music video. The locket's meaning in the video is that her old love whom you presume she's moving on from gave it to her. She feels as though this is the last part of him that she's holding onto. The music video is her journey of removing the last of him from her life. After she is 'free' of him. 

Research & Planning: Mise-en-Scene, Costume & Cast

Research & Planning: Sound

• The only sound that will be in my music video is the song - Beach Baby by Bon Iver. When adding this I will remove the sound from the video clips and simply add the song into iMovie. As this sound will be added after it's considered non-diegetic because diegetic sound wouldn't be appropriate with it being a music video.
• With this being the only sound it means that I don't have to worry about sourcing original pieces for my production.
• I have thought about whether to keep the song as the actual artist or change it to a different vocalist but overall decided to keep it the same.
• If I have time I will create a timeline of sound which will link the sound to the narrative. 

Research & Planning: Characters Development

Casting of the Character

• For the casting of the main and only protagonist who will feature in my promo music video I chose Emily, who is my sister. 
• I chose her because for the style of my video, I think that with her sense of style and look she will suit both the genre and the music video I have planned. She is also young (19) which is of the right sort of age. 
• She can also drive so this means that for the in the car shots I can film to ensure I get the right kind of shots I want and she can drive. If this had not been the case I would have had to drive and get someone to film for me, I feel more comfortable filming so I know I can get the shots. 

A picture of my sister.

Development of Character

For the development there hasn't been much. I just now know the kind of person I wanted to feature in the productions. Now I have casted I can now focus on the plan of filming etc. 

I think there would've been more development if the character had more of a part in the music video but the music video has a sense of detachment so therefore you don't really have/need to get to know the main protagonist. 

Research & Planning: Organisation - Tools & Resources

I have organised all I need to shot for the main production and the ancillary products so I am now ready to firstly get everything I need then shoot.

Research & Planning: Location Shots

Location A

I've been researching the Norwich area for a suitable place to film my music video, as well as take the shots for the ancillary products during. So far I have considered potential fields and also looked at Whitlingham Lake.

Option A - Field

Seeing as most fields look very similar if I was to go with the option I have a lot of potential options of where to film. I am soon to go and research in person what fields have the most potential. Once I have done this I will add the images and compare to the other options I have.

Behind Sprowston Park and Ride is a field that people have accessibility to so could be a viable option.

My Aunt and Uncle live out in the country and have various fields that I would be able to use. I'm also going to research more into this option.

Option B - Whitlingham Lakes

This is a strong candidate because I think having a lake would add more to the cinematography of the music video and gives me more options for shots etc of the ancillary products. It would also work well with one of the last shots of the girl throwing the necklace into a body of water/or field. 

I have found these images online and have visited before. I am planning another visit in order to take photos to compare it to my option A.

I went to go look at Whitlingham Lakes and have decided that it is the perfect location for my music video and to take the pictures for my ancillary products.

Final Decision

I will make this as soon as I have gone out to all potential locations and done some primary research of the shots/accessibility of the locations. 

Location B

 For part of my music video I need an inside location. For this I have decided to use part of my own house. I have chosen to use this because it is a suitable layout to what I need. 

The dressing room in which part of the music video is filmed. 

The bedroom which is also used.