Monday, 10 December 2012

Final Feedback

Today we had our final feedback with our class. Our class mates said that they thought that our music video was very good and that the lip syncing has improved from the the first feedback session.

Friday, 7 December 2012

Finished editing

Today we finished editing and exported our video. We were able to fix the lip syncing in the video by putting markers on the music and markers on the acting and put them in line with each other so that the lip synching would be completely accurate.

Tuesday, 4 December 2012

Improving the Music Video

Today we worked on fixing the ending as well as getting the lip-syncing and words on time. So far we were able to fix the ending so that it showed that they bumped into each other more clearly. We were also able to improve the timings of when the lyrics that showed on screen so it matched the words exactly. We are still working on getting the lip- syncing accurate. Some of the lip-syncing however dose not seem to be actuate due to the actors performance as some words are left out and so we are looking to maybe filming more cut-aways to maybe cover up those mistakes.

Monday, 3 December 2012

FeedBack


Today we received our audience feedback for our music video. Our class said it was good however some lip-syncing appeared to be a bit out of place so we would need to improve that. Also the parts of the music video with just the lyrics appeared to be too fast and the ending seemed a bit unclear as it looked as if the girl and Edward hugged and then went apart and hugged again so we would need to improve that to make that scene clearer.

Friday, 30 November 2012

Finished Editing

Today we added our final scenes of the music video so now we have finished editing. We added the scenes of Edward sitting on a bench and the scenes of traffic. With these scenes we sped them up and added a black and white effect to the traffic scene to reflect the mood of the music video and Ed's reflection on the past. We also included a scene with Ed sitting on a bus by himself. We are waiting for our feedback session on Monday to see what the rest of our class thinks of our music video and how we could improve.

Thursday, 29 November 2012

Filming

While editing our group realised that we need to film more footage as we had ran out because in our story board we did not consider the instrumental parts of the song.
Today we filmed with just Edward on the bus and sitting on a bench with the traffic going past. We hope to speed up these scenes when editing our music video tomorrow and so hopefully that will fill up the gaps that we have as tomorrow is our last editing day.

Tuesday, 20 November 2012

Editing

Today we decided to film some more scenes for our music video. We filmed in the field the parts of the music video that would be showing the song lyrics and added the footage to final cut pro.
The idea for this bit of the music video came from the Alicia keys lyric video of new day which just showed the song lyrics being written down.


Monday, 19 November 2012

Editing

Today we edited some more of our footage, we made the flashbacks black and white and speed up some scenes.

Tuesday, 13 November 2012

Editing

Today we added the song to final cut pro and so we started to edit the music video. So far we are trying to get the lip syncing accurate as well as working out which scenes go where as we cannot follow the story board exactly as some ideas have changed since drawing the story board. 

Monday, 12 November 2012

Editing

Today we started editing our film by uploading our footage onto final cut pro.

Saturday, 10 November 2012

Filming

Today we finished our filming. We re-filmed some shots at hollow pond as well as filming some new ones with the girl actor this time. We did not have alcohol bottles we deiced to change the story a bit  because filming in the house would be irrelevant as there would be no bottles to find so instead the girl and boy would have a normal break up and get back together in the end. We filmed some scenes in a cafe, on the bus and at a street corner.

Tuesday, 6 November 2012

Editing

Today we looked at the footage that we filmed at Hollow Pond and uploaded it onto Final Cut Pro. We looked at what we needed to remove and what we needed to film again. reviewing our footage we could see that some shots were wonky or out of focus. When filming we also made the mistake of telling our actor not to look at the camera but looking at our footage we decided that it would be better if he had looked at the camera more.

Our actors are unable to film with us tomorrow so we have to do a full day of filming this Saturday.

Wednesday, 24 October 2012

Research and Planning


Filming

Today our group filmed at Hollow Pond. We filmed Edward by himself lip syncing from different angles, as well as some cutaways.  After reviewing what we shot we decided that we need to film in that location again as some shots were out of focus. We also deiced to have the girl there so that we would film some flashbacks from the park.

Thursday, 18 October 2012

Production Schedule


Production Schedule

Wednesday 24th October

Location:
Hollow Pond

Contacts:

Priscilla
Nandi
Shaqira

 Crew:
Synthia
Edward
Priscilla
Nandi
Shaqira

Unit Transport:
Hollow Pond
Take bus 257 from Sharnhall St get off at James Lane

Equipment: Camera, Tri- Pod 

Props: no props

Schedule:
14:20 – 14:30 Get to Hollow Pond
14:30 –16:00 Filming at Hollow Pond
16:00 – Go Home

Shot No / Storyboard ref.
Time
Location
Characters
1,2,3,5,9,11,13,15,16,18,20,21,23,25,28,33,34,35,36
14:30 – 16:00
Hollow Pond
Edward

Saturday 10th November

Location:
Shaqira’s house and Victoria Park

Unit Transport:

Shaqira’s House
Bus 56 from Bakers Arms get off at Dalston

Victoria Park
Bus 277 from Dalston and Mare St
Bus 48/55 from Bakers Arms change to 277 from St Thomas’s Square

Equipment: Camera, Tri- Pod 

Props: Alcohol Bottles

Schedule:
11:00 – 13:00 Shaqira’s House
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 – 18:00 Filming in Victoria Park

Shooting Order: 

Shot No / Storyboard ref.
Time
Location
Characters
4,6,7,8,10,12,17,19,22,24,26,27,29,30,31,32,37,38,39
11:00 – 13:00
Shaqira’s House
Edward & Synthia
1,2,3,5,9,11,13,15,16,18,20,21,23,25,28,33,34,35,36
14:00 – 18:00
Victoria Park
Edward


Saturday, 13 October 2012

Case Study - Ed Sheeran - The A Team


Priscilla Quarcoo
Ed Sheeran –The A Team

 

The music video The A team is about a girl who is trying to get money for drugs and as a last result she becomes a prostitute to get money. At the end of the music video she dies of an overdose.
The video is narrative based as the music video has a linear narrative, the narrative problem being that she sells her body for drugs.

Themes seen in the video are drug abuse and prostitution; these themes are shown in the video through the camera angles, mise en scene and editing techniques. The motif in this music video is “angel” as the girl is described as an angel in the song lyrics. The motif of the angel is seen across the music video. An example of this is when a low angle shot is used to show the girl standing underneath the halo. Other examples are when she was standing in front of angel station and a pan was used to show a sign saying “improving the angel”.  The music video is in black and white to reflect the sombre mood of the music video.

At the beginning of the music video a close up shot of the main character lying dead on the floor is shown. The camera moves upwards and the focus turns blurry this is used to signify a change in time and to also establish the main character in the music video.

A wide shot used to show the girl on the park bench when she wakes up. This shot is used to display her situation to the audience. With this shot the audience can see her wearing ripped tights, a long coat, a hoddie and shorts. The mise en scene helps to portray the representation of this character which is that she is vulnerable as she doesn’t seem to have any decent clothes and she was sleeping on a park bench.

A close up shot of the main characters face is used in the music video to help build the representation of the character as vulnerable as the shot shows her crying to show how upset she is about her situation. It is clear in this shot that she did not want to become a prostitute.  A wide shot is used when she is sitting on the pavement; everything around her is in fast motion. This editing technique is used to show time passing and also to symbolize how she is stuck in the same situation when everybody else is moving on in their lives. Blurred focus is used when the main character is putting on makeup to go and do prostitution. This is done to illustrate how the need for drugs has blurred her focus and what’s really important in life.  

This music video included no lip syncing from the main artist Ed Sheeran as he only appears once in the video to buy the Big Issue off the girl. Ed Sheeran is represented as a caring passer-by in this music video as he sits down to talk to the girl.

The target audience are people who listen to folk acoustic music. This music video would encourage the target audience to buy this song as the audience would feel empathy for the girl and her story, and so they would buy the song as they may relate to feelings of the girl in this music video.

The music video is narrative based and so includes no real acting from the main artist as the music video only focuses on the story of the girl. I wish to include that concept in my music video so that the main focus of the music video would be the narrative of the main character and not the artist. 

Case Study - J.Cole - Daddy's Little Girl


Priscilla Quarcoo
J. Cole – Daddy’s Little Girl – (Roc Nation)


 
The music video for the song “Daddy’s Little Girl” shows a woman who had dreams of doing ballet becoming a pole dancer.

The actor in this music video is represented as a woman who has lost her way; this is seen in the music video through the editing techniques, camera angles and mise en scene.
The video is narrative and performance based as it shows the narrative story of a little girl growing up to be a pole dancer. The main artist in the music video J. Cole is represented as the narrator of the women’s story. Lip singing is used when it cuts to the main artist to show who’s telling the story.
The motif in the video is the cuts from showing what she was to what she has become. The theme covered in the video is a failed dream this is shown in the video through the editing techniques. Editing techniques in the video include fast cuts to show the audience a flashback of what she was before she became a pole dancer. This is done by the focus being blurred and the location is bright to show the time change. Editing also includes slow motion to show how the women’s dance moves match the ballet moves she used as a child.  

The camera angles used in this music video helps to show the representation of the woman.
Long shots are used in the beginning to show the girl dancing as a ballerina. Close up’s to the dancers face and hands are used to show the similarity of the moves she used as a ballerina to now dance in a club. High angle shots are used in the music video to show the woman to illustrate that she is less powerful this is seen when she is picking up the dollar bills thrown at her.
Eye line match is also used to show how the audience are observing the scene.
A low angle shot is used when showing J. Cole rapping as he is a dominant figure in the music video by telling the woman’s story.  J Cole is represented in this music video as feeling sorry for the women as he appears to be crying for her in one of the shots. 

The mise en scene in the music video contributes to the theme of failed dreams through the story of the club dancer. The video is set in two places a strip club and a theater to show the contrast between the woman’s two “stages”.  The strip club is dark with low lighting where as the theater is bright. The dancer in this music video is wearing white in both settings but in the theater she is wearing a full gown and in the club she wears a costume which is laced like her ballerina shoes to show the link between the past and the present.  This shows the difference between what she wanted to do to what she has become and to show the audience of this music video how far she has fallen. 

The audience are encouraged to buy the record as the narrative portrayed in the music video will cause the listener of the song to take it as a form of encouragement so they won’t turn out how the woman in the music video did.

I would like to include the idea of showing the changing situation of the actor in my own music video. The “flashes” of what they were to what they have become. In the music video the flash backs would be a cut to show how her moves of a ballet dancer matched her moves of being a pole dancer. The cutting rate would be fast in these scenes so it would give the audience a glimpse of her past.  In my music video I would like to incorporate this technique and explore how the cutting rate would show the target audience glimpses of the main characters past. 

Case Study - Professor Green Read All About It


Priscilla Quarcoo
 Professor Green – Read All About It Ft. Emeli Sande

 

The video Read all about it by Professor Green shows the broken relationship between a father and a son as the Dad is married into a new family. The video is narrative based as it has a liner narrative. The music video shows the narrative with occasional jump cuts to the music artists. The narrative problem is that the dad does not spend time with his son. Lip synching is included in the video when it jump cuts to Professor Green and Emeli Sande.

The themes represented in the video are broken family, divorce and custody of children. These themes are represented in this music video through the camera angles, editing techniques and mise en scene.

The boy in the video is represented as angry and confused about his relationship with his dad and his new family. This is seen when the dad brings the son into his house but lets go of the boy’s hand as soon as they get into the house, this shot also linked to the lyrics of the song where it said “I wonder what I did to you to make you hate me” A close up shot of the dad letting go of his son’s hand was used here to show the audience of this music video how the father treated his son around his new family. High angle shots are used to show the boy in the music video to show that he is less powerful in this situation.  

The mise en scene of the house helps to convey to the audience that the boy in this story is not part of his new step family. This is evident as on the walls of the house are pictures drawn by his step sister. In the music video the camera appears to be hand held as the boy smashes up the furniture in the house which is used to show the destruction in the house and to represent the theme of a broken family.

Editing techniques such as shot- reverse – shot and the cutting rate also contribute to the representation of the themes running through the video. Towards the end of the music video the cutting rate increases as the boy and the step mum in the video argue. Shot reverse shot is used in the scene and extreme close-ups are used to show the boy’s and the step mum’s eyes to show the audience the anger they have towards each other.

The main artist Professor Green is represented as reflective looking at his past saying he’s not going to turn out like his dad, Professor Green is also represented as hurt in the video as his lyrics say that we have to see him “hurt”. Close up shot’s of Professor Green’s face were used in the music video to convey his emotions to the target audience.  At the end of the music video a wide shot is used to show the little boy and Professor Green in the same location with Professor Green looking at him to signify to the audience that he was looking into his past. Professor Green has a performance role in the music video as he is lip singing and also “acting” as he is using his hands to portray his feelings, he is not just standing still. Pans and long shots are used in these scenes.

The target audience of this music video would be teenagers who listen to grime and hip hop music. The target audience of this music video are encouraged to buy the record as they would be able to relate to the feelings and themes portrayed in the music video. I wish to include the concept used at the end of the music video, when Professor Green was looking at the boy, in my own music video of the main artist looking at their past self.  

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Editing

Yesterday and today we practised using finial cut pro which is the program we would be using to edit our music video. We learnt how to cut film, use shot reverse shot and fade in and out. We also learnt how to add titles.

Monday, 8 October 2012

Story Board

Today we continued to draw our story board. We are looking to start filming next week, maybe film on the 20th and 24th of October. Maybe filming in Victoria Park on the Saturday then 20th and filming in the house on Wednesday the 24th.

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

Storyboard


Today we started drawing the story board. And so now we are figuring out what type of camera shots and movements we are using.


Auditions

Yesterday we held auditions for our main actors. We now have a boy and a girl actor for the main characters.  The boy is white which is kind of important as he would be playing “Ed Sheeran in the music video” and so the music video would look believable.

We used this poster to ask for actors :

Boy and Girl actors needed for music video to Ed Sheeran song “Little Birds”

Will look good on your portfolio

If interested contact:


Twitter - @p_quarcoo

Please get back to me by 07/10/12

THANK YOU

Tuesday, 2 October 2012

Pre-production

Today we have sorted out what would be seen at each line of the song so now we would be able to draw a detailed storyboard we have also sorted out auditions for actors to star in our music video which would be this lunch time.



Wednesday, 26 September 2012

Pre-production Storyboard


Today we are starting to plan what we will see step-by-step in the music video so that we can draw the story board. We decided that at the chorus when he says “my little bird” it will always show an image of birds.

Tuesday, 25 September 2012

2nd Treatment


Media treatment

A boy and girl is in a relationship but the boy finds out that she is a secret alcoholic and so breaks up with her. During the breakup the girl tries to change her ways and at the end of the video the boy and girl get back together. Performance included in the music video would be the boy who would be lip- singing in the video. 

The music video will show the boy lip singing on a park bench having flash backs of what happened in the relationship. The girl would also be shown also having flashback’s on the relationship.  At the end of the music video the boy goes to the girl’s house and they get back together.

Conceptual elements included in the music video would be the birds that would appear in the music video as the song is titled “little bird” and so the bird would be a metaphor for the girl. Birds would be shown in the music video by filming the boy and girl looking at different birds during the music video e.g. when in the park the boy would be looking at a pound full of swans , the girl would be alone in the house looking at some pigeons outside her window.

Professional music videos that inspired us were the A-team and Small Bump by Ed Sheeran and also “Breakeven” by The Script. 

For our music video we would have to audition students of performing arts as the music video includes allot of acting.

There are no ethical considerations when it comes to our group’s music video.

The song is 3.44 seconds long; the music video would probably run for 4 minutes.

The audience of the music video would be people who listen to folk music.

Music video would appear on YouTube.

Audience feedback for treatment


The audience feedback we received from the treatment was that our group needed to be clearer on what would be seen on the music video. And also how possible was it to include birds in our music video. It was suggested that maybe we should get still images of birds and include it in our music video or go to a place where there is birds and film them instead of hoping that we would find birds in a park.   

It was also brought up that the role of performance from the main artist needed to be clearer and that we needed to figure out how their performance would be linked into the main narrative in the music video.

Also in the audience feedback it was said that they like our group’s idea and that it matched what an Ed Sheeran video would be like as he tackles big issues.

Treatment


Media treatment

The narrative idea

A boy and girl is in a relationship but the boy finds out that she is a secret alcoholic and so breaks up with her. During the breakup the girl try’s to change her ways and at the end of the video the boy and girl get back together.

Performance included in the music video would be the boy who would be lip- singing in the video.  Conceptual elements included in the music video would be the birds that would appear in the music video as the song is titled “little bird” and so the bird would be a metaphor for the girl.

Professional music videos that inspired us were the A-team and small bump by Ed Sheeran.  Also “breakeven” by the script. 

For our music video we would have to audition students of performing arts as the music video includes allot of acting.

No ethical considerations

The song is 3.44 secs.

Audience people who listen to folk

Lyrics to Little Bird

Lyrics to Little Bird :
If we take this bird in,
with his broken leg,
we could nurse it, she said.
come inside for a little lie down with me,
if you fall asleep, it wouldn't be the worst thing.

but when i wake up,
your make up is on my shoulder,
and tell me if i lie down,
would you stay now, let me hold ya.

but if i kiss you,
will your mouth read this truth
darling how i miss you,
strawberry's taste how lips do,

and it's not complete yet,
mustn't get our feet wet,
cause that leads to regret,
diving in too soon.

and i'll owe it all to you,
my little bird.
...my little bird.

take a walk out, in the morning dew,
we could lay down, so i'm next to you,
and come inside for a little home made tea,
if you fall asleep then,
at least you're next to me.

and if i wake up,
go back to sleep.

i'm covered by nature,
and i'm safe now,
underneath this oak tree,
with you beside me.

but if i kiss you,
will your mouth read this truth
darling how i miss you,
strawberry's taste how lips do,

and it's not complete yet,
mustn't get our feet wet,
cause that leads to regret,
diving in too soon.

and i'll owe it all to you,
my little bird.

my little bird (3x)

and of all these things i'm sure of,
i'm not quite certain of your love.
and you make me scream,
but then i made you cry.
when i left that little bird,
with it's broken leg to die.

but if i kiss you,
will your mouth read this truth
darling how i miss you,
strawberry's taste how lips do,

and it's not complete yet,
mustn't get our feet wet,
cause that leads to regret,
diving in too soon.

but i'll owe it all to you,
my little bird.
my little bird (ooohh)
my little bird.
my little bird,
mmmmyy little bird,
you're my little bird.

Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Creative ideas

Today we have thought of the narrative idea and the themes and motif for our music video. We decided that the themes would be heart break and alcohol and that the main character in the music video would be a girl with a drinking problem and that her drinking problem breaks up her relationship with her boyfriend. The motif in our music video would be a bird.


The boyfriend in our music video would be the music artist and he would be the person lip-singing in the video.  
As inspiration for our music video we have looked at The A-team and Small Bump.




Monday, 17 September 2012

Creative ideas

Today my group we decided to use the song Little Bird by Ed Sheeran as the song for our music video. We were thinking how the "little bird" in the song is a metaphor for a girl that he had lost. So far we are now looking at the song lyrics and annotating it to bring up some ideas for our video.


Wednesday, 12 September 2012

My Production Schedule

Welcome to my blog this is my first blog post.
You'll find all my A2 coursework here.
Wk. 1
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
10/9/2012
Start Research/ Case Study

 

Wk. 2
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
17/9/12
Research/ Case Study Due
Start Treatment
Wk. 3
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
24/9/12
Treatment Due

 

Wk. 4
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
1/10/12
Focus groups / Pitch
Start Evaluation Of Audience Feedback
Audience Feedback Uploaded On Blog
Wk. 5
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
8/10/12
Start Storyboard
Release Forms / Risk Assessments / Recces/ Production Schedules / Production Team Roles 
Wk. 6
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
15/10/12
Pre-Production Documents Uploaded On Blog
Start Filming
Wk. 7
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
22/10/12
Wk. 8
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
29/10/12
Wk. 9
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
5/11/12
Wk. 10
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
12/11/12
Deadline For Filming Start Editing
Wk.11
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
19/11/12
Wk. 12
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
26/11/12
Editing Deadline
Wk. 13
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
3/12/12
Start research and planning for CD/DVD cover and advert
Wk. 14
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
10/12/12
Research and planning for CD /DVD cover to be handed in
Wk. 15
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
17/12/12
Start Producing of CD/ DVD digipack and advert
Wk. 16
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
7/1/13
Photography to be complete
Wk. 17
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
14/1/13
Deadline for CD / DVD digipack
Wk. 18
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
21/1/13
Post- production focus groups
Evaluate feedback on blog
Wk. 18
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
4/2/13
Recorded voice overs for directors commentary to be done
Wk. 19
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
4/3/13
Directors commentary and 2extras2 DVD to be complete
Deadline for Advanced Portfolio