Rough cut

Feedback

Improvements 

- at 0:10, the shot with the title 'Renegades' should be longer because otherwise the audience is unable to read it.

- The lip syncing shots at the start are a bit samey so i'm going to go back and switch some of the shots out for different angles. 

-The pace at the start is almost too quick some of the shots could be a bit longer

Ideologies

Ideologies

Since one of the key ideologies I want to betray is rebellion and anti establishment behavior, I chose certain activities for the actors to do that involved breaking rules. This includes stealing from a shop, pushing each other around in a shopping trolley and spray painting. To make sure that I wouldn't get in trouble, I made sure to ask permission in each location. At Dawns I asked a couple of days in advance if I would be allowed to film in their shop and they said yes and that the best time would be 10 am so I made sure to get there around that time. Before filming the shopping trolley scene, I asked Sainsbury's if it would be okay and they said yes as long as nothing got damaged in the process which it didn't. And lastly for the graffiti wall, I chose the town park as there is a wall there specifically for graffiti in which people are allowed to spray paint therefore avoiding getting into any trouble as no rules were being broken.

Production process

Filming 

One of the problems I wanted to take care of early on was making sure that I had enough battery power to last all day long. To ensure that this would happen, I decided to invest in a second battery so that if one did run out I could still carry on filming. This came in very useful as when the battery did run out which I predicted, I had the back up meaning the filming day wasn't interrupted. 

While filming I ran into a couple of problems one being the weather, on the day that I had originally planned to film, the weather forecast predicted heavy rain. I tried to reschedule the date but the actors weren't free any other time so I figured I would risk it. Luckily the weather forecast was wrong and it didn't rain on the first filming date. On the second filming date the weather was also fine the lighting was good as the sun was out and since I was relying on natural  light this was perfect to shoot in. All together there weren't any problems when filming my music video, the actors were great and appeared very natural on camera which was what I wanted as I wanted the music video to appear real because that way the target audience can relate to the realism aspect. 

Editing

I knew from the start that one of my key focus' when editing was going to be editing to the beat. To make sure I had some practice before the real thing I edited a small segment of the song Open Season by Josef Salvat to some of my test footage to make sure I would know what I was doing when it came to editing my real piece. 

Another aspect I am focusing on when editing is colour correction, since the narrative I am portraying is supposed to appear real to the audience, I am going to colour grade to suit this theme as this will once again add to the realism and  the honesty of my piece and will help to set the tone. 

From looking at other music videos within the same genre as mine (alternative/indie rock), I have decided to add titles to my music video. To begin with I was going to have two titles one being the title of the song and the other being directed by, however I don't think the directed by title is necessary so I decided to scrap that idea.

In final cut, there are a number of edits already there to chose from, they are great but some are quite extreme and I don't think that they fit with my piece due to the themes I am portraying. 

Recce

Experimentation and techniques

Experimentation

When filming my music video, I decided to experiment with different types of shots, not simply shots from my storyboard and decided to use the storyboard more as a guideline rather than strictly following it. This helped me as during the filming process I was able to experiment more freely and wasn't stuck in a boy where I only did certain things that I had planned. One of the shots that I was experimenting with was the shot at 1:17 when it is a point of view shot of from the walls perspective and one of the actors sprays the camera with spray paint, to achieve this shot I covered my lens with a clear plastic bag and secured it with a rubber band to make sure it would stay in place, I also had a lens protector on to make sure if the spray paint did go through the bag it wouldn't mess up my lens. This shot worked really well and there were no problems with the spray paint going through the bag so it was worth the risk. When editing, I also tried to experiment with the different elements Final Cut pro 10 offers, such as the already made effects and transitions, however since I want the pace of my music video to be upbeat and have a fast tempo especially at the  start (stealing from the shop scene) I decided that this wouldn't work for the overall look I was going for. All together I haven't experimented with my music video a large amount because from the start i've had an idea of what I want the overall appearance of my music video to look like and therefore when it came to experimenting I didn't think to do all that much.

Techniques

The techniques I used when filming were making sure I used a range of shots so that the shots used weren't samey and similar and created a more interesting appearance to the audience. One of the techniques I used a lot was pulled focus and generally fiddling and experimenting with the focus to adapt the depth of field and to create a shot that looks aesthetically pleasing to the eye. An example of this sort of shot is the shot to the right. As you can see I focused the shot so that the character was in focus but the background was blurred creating a warmth to the shot and a focal point for the audience. Another technique to do with cinematography that I often used was making different aspects in focus such as the shot on the top left I decided to make the bin really sharp and in focus whilst the boys walking behind were blurred, I chose to do this as not only is it nice to look at but it adds to the setting and the lifestyle as it presents them as being real rather than being glamorous. The other shots I decided to use nature such as the trees and make them sharp while the boys were blurred in the background. I really like the effect this gives and I am glad that I had a DSLR so that I was able to experiment freely with the focus. 

Risk assessment

Performance

Filming

When filming the performance section of my music video, I decided to experiment with a mixture of close-up and moving shots as well as with direct mode of address to present star image to the audience as well as because close-up shots of performance is one of the common techniques used in music videos. I decided that another way I would present star image would be to show the artist playing a guitar, as a guitar is played on the track and Dyer's theory on star image shows that the audience look to artists for their talents which is presented as playing a guitar and having the ability to sing and perform is a talent that the audience is often envious of therefore through using this prop I was trying to lift the artist's image up as showing them as desirable and talented. Since the song has a strong beat, I decided to get multiple shots of the artist tapping the guitar to the beat and tapping his foot to the beat. I did this so that the performance shots were broken up and there wasn't only lip syncing and narrative but a variety of shots to keep the piece interesting. 

Editing 

When editing the performance section into the already edited narrative part of my music video, the first difficulty was deciding when to bring the performance in, as the opening scene is quite fast paced and the narrative is showing them stealing from a shop. At first I was going to place a close-up shot of the guitar to split up this scene and to introduce the artist early, however when trying this I found that it ruined the pace and didn't fit well so I decided to place the first performance when the lyrics begin with 'run away, away with me' as this was the best place to put the first part of the performance. One of the most difficult elements of editing the performance was syncing the lyrics with the lip syncing shots. At first I found this really difficult as the actor I chose to portray the artist forgot the lyrics and sometimes pronounced the words wrong or missed a few parts of the song which lead to me having to use the shots filmed at the end as this was when he felt more comfortable and confident singing the song. Therefore although I did get a variety of shots, the lip syncing in this variety wasn't perfect which meant when editing I was limited to using the footage from the end.

Target audience - secondary research

Secondary Research

From my market research, through both primary and secondary research methods, my primary target audience is males aged 16-25 and my secondary audience is females aged 16-25. [1]

I am targeting males as the artist performing the song is a male and the two characters in the narrative are also male and therefore a male audience already has an established connection with the characters.On top of this, from my secondary research I found out the the audience of alternative rock music is predominately  male, due to the fact that many of the artists within this genre are male, for example Arctic Monkeys, The 1975, Alt J and The Neighbourhood to name a few, therefore the audience finds it easier to connect with the target market due to this.

From this secondary research I found out that the target audience of this genre are generally students with a smaller percentage within a small time/part time job. This could be due to the fact that the ideologies of this genre glorify anti establishment and rebellious behaviour therefore the target audience may not have jobs due to this and living a different kind of life style. On top of this, since the target audience is 16 - 25 year old's, the legal age to leave education is 18 and and the number of people going to university in the UK has increased as "the number of university applications has exceeded the record set before the rise in tuition fees and poorer pupils are now more likely than ever to apply"[2] Therefore from this information this shows why the target audience is mainly students as the target audience of 16-25 year old's are most likely in high school or university. 

Through this research, I have found that the target market of alternative rock music enjoys music videos with both narrative and performance which suits my music video as I have planned to have a music video with both.

Audience profile

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Occupation: Student

Disposable income: Low

Values: Friends, family, music, socialising, technology, adventure 

[1] https://infogr.am/Target-audience-research-analysis

[2] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/11377594/Record-number-of-students-applying-to-university.html

Schedule

Schedule

Official deadline - 14th December 2015

Filming schedule: 30th October 2015 - 10:00  to 16:00 

- Pick up actors at 10 am 

-Go to Dawns (Corner shop) for 10:15 and begin filming

-Go to business park to film second part

-Go to the park 

-Go to the hide out

-Go to the field 

-Drop actors off at home 

Filming schedule: 15th November 2015 - 11:00 - 14:00 

-Pick up actors 

-Drive to Sainsbury's  

-Film trolly scene 

-Drive to the town park

-Film Spray paint scene 

-Drop actors at home

Since I am unable to drive, I had to organise a time where my mum could come with me so that I would be able to get the shots in the locations that I wanted.

Editing:

Begin editing 3rd November 2015

Rough cut complete 28th November 2015

Final cut complete N/A 

Digipak research

Looking at digipaks from other bands and artists within the same genre, it is apparent that a simplistic style is commonly seen throughout digipak art work. The arctic monkeys album cover (front and back) is very simple yet artistic appealing to a more minimalistic audience. Like the 1975 and the Catfish and The Bottlemen album cover are also simplistic with no colour, which is something that I will use in my digipak since I think it will be contrasting and unique to other album covers and digipaks within the genre. 

Market research

My questionnaire sample was taken from a range of people of different ages and different interests and musical tastes therefore I got a wide number of responses from different people and different peoples interests and ideologies. 

The first question I asked was 'what is your preferred genre of music to listen to'. I asked this question to get an understanding of the respondents answering the questionnaire, enabling me to differentiate between the responses from people within the target market and the people who aren't in my target market through understanding who is interested in alternative/rock music. 

The next question I asked was 'what ideologies and themes do you like to see in music videos, to with the respondents chose between a range of the ideologies offered with 60% of the respondents stated anti establishment themes and ideologies were the ones they like to be shown in music videos, 50% stated rebellious behaviour was the theme that they like being presented, romance received 40% friendship received 50%, family received 30% whilst wealth and success was the least popular with 20% of respondents stating that that what a theme/ideology they wanted to see in music videos. 

The second question I asked was: In alternative rock music video what do you expect to see?

The largest response, being 50% of the answers was a mixture of the two. Since this is what I have planned to do in my music video, this gives me confidence that I have chosen the right structure for my music video. 

The second question I asked was: what is your preferred genre of music to listen to? I asked this question because I wanted to find out what type of music my sample likes so that I could justify the answers to understand so that I am producing something that my target market actually has an understanding and interest in. 

The third question I asked was: In the performance of an alternative rock music video, what do you like to see? In hindsight I could have worded this question better, however I got the answers I needed so that isn't a big problem. The two responses that were the most popular were direct mode of address and lip syncing, closely followed by close- up shots and live performance. Therefore I have planned to use lip syncing and direct mode of address to break the fourth wall and give a more personal experience to the audience. 

The fourth question I asked was: What ideologies and themes do you like to see in music videos? This most popular answers of this question were anti establishment ideologies, rebellious behavior, and friendship which are all themes and ideologies I plan to demonstrate in my music video through scenes of shoplifting, spray painting and stealing a trolley and pushing each other around on it. This has shown me that the ideologies I am planning to portray will suit what the target market wants to see.

The last question I asked was: In a digi pack, within an alternative rock genre, what is important to you? The largest response was a shot of the artist, closely followed by vibrant colourful artwork and simplism, all of which I am planning to put across in my digi pack. 

Copy right

"The law gives the creators of literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works, sound recordings, broadcasts, films and typographical arrangement of published editions, rights to control the way in which their material may be used. The rights cover; broadcast and public performance, copying, adapting, issuing, renting and lending copies to the public. In many cases, the creator will also have the right to be identified as he author and to object to distortions of his work" [1]

Since I am using a track that I don't own, I have emailed the Manager of X Ambassadors to ask for permission to use their song for my music video. I will also put a disclaimer in the description box of my final piece stating the owner of the song. 

[1] https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p01_uk_copyright_law

Lighting

Performance 

To light my performance shots I decided to have a front and back light as this highlights is facial features as well as casts shadows creating a depth to the shot. I also used a back light since the background was light and I wanted to separate him from the background as he has dark hair and the detail would have got lost otherwise. The location I shot my performance shot was in the drama room in my school (otherwise known as The Pit) which has professional lighting system which was useful as I was able to have control over the lights and the overall appearance of the shots. 

Narrative

For the narrative shoots, I am carrying two high powered torches with me in case the shots appearing to be too dark. However I am planning on relying on natural light as I don't have much equipment and I have chosen to film on a day that should have enough sun light. Also since I am using a DSLR, I've got control over the aperture therefore if the lighting is too dark, since my lens allows me to have a wider amount of freedom with the aperture, on top of this, I my camera has a histogram so I have an understanding of the exposure of the shots without having to simply rely on the view finder. 

Digipak planning (old version)

My album cover 

First Idea

The genre of my chosen track (Renegades) is alternative rock. From looking at bands and artists within the same genres album covers, I have found them to be very artistic and minimal which I want to bring into my album cover to attract the target market in. For the album cover I am going to take a portrait photo of my artist and edit it in Photoshop to appear as a pop art image. To make sure that this is going to be possible, I have been watching tutorials on YouTube that have instructed me exactly how to create this effect on my album cover. 

On the inside covers of the album, I am going to create a collage of all of the Pop Art phrases such as 'Pop!' and 'Bang' and layer them on top of each other as the background. I am then going to write the text inside an opaque white box as otherwise the reader will be unable to read it due to all of the distractions in the background. I am also going to have a lyric page and a shot from the music video to tie the two together.

On the back cover of the album, I am going to take a behind shot of my artist with someone pointing a gun to his head, this will reveal something and tell a story which I think will work well with my target market as it is artistic.

Editing - Deciding on Colour Correction

Colour correcting 

To colour correct I decided to test out a variety of techniques to see what kind of appearance I like best. 

I started by using the colour board and adjusting the global option to create more pink undertones. I like the effect this gives but since the lighting in the shop was tungsten the pink tones complimented it however on the outside shots the lighting is daylight therefore the shots appear more cool toned so I don't think that this would suit my music video throughout. 

I then decided to test out the appearance of the shot when moving the global option upwards to the green and yellow tones, I also like the appearance that this gives and have the same worries about this as throughout I don't know whether it will work. 

I decided I'm probably not going to use the colour board and instead use the saturation and exposure as I think it gives more of a natural appearance which will add to the sense of realism I am trying to portray. 

Since the narrative of my music video involves rebellion and anti establishment themes, I think more grey tones will create a more realistic honest portrayal. I used the saturation board to get this effect through decreasing the saturation to create a cool toned shot. I like this appearance however I feel although the narrative does show these themes, it is also a generally upbeat narrative which makes me question whether I should colour correct my music video to be warm toned or cool toned.

There are certain shots that are over exposed in which I will use the exposure tool to try to create a less exposed appearance.

Foreseeable Problems

Foreseeable problems 

Weather: The day I set for filming the narrative section of my music video is the 30th of October 2015. The weather forecast for this date is suggested to be light rain and clear spells on and off throughout the day. As my music video follows a darker narrative the weather on this day will be good for pathetic fallacy and setting the tone of the music video as a sunny day wouldn't set the right tone for my piece. Therefore due to the weather being cloudy this should be a good day for me to film, the only downfall of this date is that the weather forecast predicts rain, since I am going to be filming mostly outside this could potentially be a problem as my equipment could get damaged therefore to prevent this I would have to reschedule filming for another occasion. On top of this, since it won't be a sunny day, another problem that could come along with the weather is darkness as I don't have much extra equipment for light and I am going to be filming outside therefore I will need to come up with ways to effectively light during filming. To do this I decided to purchase a new lens as this would enable me to have more control over the aperture therefore enabling me to have more control over the exposure of the shot. 

Equipment failure: One of the potential risks when filming is running out of battery, therefore I decided to purchase a spare battery in case to make sure if one runs out I wont have to stop filming as I will have a spare battery on me. The night before filming I will make sure the both batteries are fully charged to prevent this from happening on the day. Another aspect that could go wrong with the equipment is the SD card, therefore I have decided to bring a spare just in case something goes wrong therefore I will have a backup SD card in this situation. 

Forgetting to bring equipment: Since I am working on my own, I have decided to write myself a checklist to prevent myself forgetting any equipment. If this happened I would have to go back home and collect the forgotten equipment which would simply be a waste of time therefore the check list should prevent this situation from happening. As well as this I will make sure that I have everything ready the night before just in case so that there are no surprises in the morning. 

Actors: Since I am using underage actors, an area that could be a potential problem is if on the day the parents decide that I am not allowed to film them. In case of this happening, I will speak to both parents in advance and get them to sign consent forms for their children to perform in my music video. As well as this, another potential situation that could go wrong is if the actors turn up in the wrong costume, to prevent this from happening I will tell them in advance exactly what they need to wear and bring on the occasion to make sure that they are clothed appropriately.