Preliminary Piece.

Our preliminary piece didn't take particularly long to film, however we did film too much footage, in case some of our footage wasn't worth using, or what we wanted. The editing was a success, however as always, it took a some time to edit the clips to the right length and get the lip syncing in time with the song. As always, some improvements could be made, such as even though the lip syncing is timed well, there's one clip which could have been filmed again to ensure it was perfectly in time.

Album cover.

As part of our preliminary task, we created both the front and back of an album cover for the artist we have chosen. For ours, we wanted to create something which captured the artists style, yet was different to their album covers. We took photographs which suited their genre, indie-pop. On the back cover, we wanted something simplistic, yet we wanted the name of the songs, and therefore opted for a black and white image with simple, small writing. 

Preliminary Website.

As part of our preliminary task, we were asked to create the front page of a website for the artist we have used. We tried to create a realistic website, and therefore included links to information such as their latest album, reviews, tour dates and photographs, all of which were presented in a way to help capture the audience's attention. 

http://thekooksa2media.weebly.com/  

Textual Analysis 4 : Bastille album cover.

Storyboard - Preliminary task.

In order to help plan our preliminary task, we created a storyboard of our idea for the music video. We tried to make it as detailed as we could, to help guide us when filming, and also to help us prepare for our full music video task in year 13. We intend to follow this storyboard while filming, however things may change as we begin filming.

Our choices - Preliminary task.

For this preliminary task, the group I am working in, includes myself, D'arby and Carmel. The song choice we've decided to use is She Moves In Her Own Way - The Kooks. We decided to use this song, as we felt that the lyrics are quite easy and fun to work with, and it will be fun to make, as well as us all quite liking the song too.

Our initial ideas are to have the girl the song is about, as the main focus within the video, with a few shots of the couple later on to fit the lyrics. We want to go with the idea that the visuals fit the lyrics in some parts of the song, as demonstrated in Goodwin's theory. We also want to create a narrative with the visuals, showing some of the development of the relationship between the girl and the boy. We want to try and capture the genre characteristics through the visuals, in order for the audience to get a feel of what the song is about and what genre the song is.

Making a successful music video.

Today we were given a sheet with the top ten tips for creating a successful music video. Briefly described below are the top ten tips needed to help us.

1) Research.

• You need to watch a lot of music videos in order to analyse the language of the genre.
• It needs to be considered exactly what you are planning to deliver before the process is started.
• Examine how different genres work and have examples to draw upon.

2) Getting in a group.

• Sometimes it may be best not to work with your friends on a project like this, as having a good time may possibly get in the way of work.
• Decide whether you and your group work well together, have the necessary communication, organisation and practical skills needed for the task.
• Ensure deadlines within the group are set and met, in order to overcome any unforeseen change in circumstances.

3) Choosing a track.

• As a video maker you are doing a job, you don't have to like the music or even the artist. 
• Narrow it down to not on the basis of your personal tastes but in terms of which music or lyrics stimulate ideas. 
• Consider the genre for each and what a video for that music is likely to entail. 
• Going for little-known or even unknown acts avoids the problem of the artists image being imprinted on the audience's mind.

4) The pitch.

• Involve a single page of ideas, simply expressed, which would enable anyone hearing it to envisage the potential finished video.
• Needs to stand out, with a 'hook' in the first paragraph, a clear idea of location, and narrative.
• Must be clear as a group exactly what you are intending and how and why you are going to do it.
• Ideas need to be, simple, clear, with the more complications you set, the more there is to go wrong.

5) Look at previous student work.

• Look at material from a similar context to your own in order to see what can be achieved and also what can go wrong.
• Previous student work should give you and idea not only of what works well but also what should be avoided:

1. Well-known songs,
2. Overdone effects - you shouldn't use effects just to disguise poor footage.
3. Aimless driving around.
4. Scenes involving booze, fags or drugs.
5. Shots of people walking around.
6. Sped up footage or footage run backwards to cover lack of material.
7. Zooms.
8. found footage - it should be your on unless there's an exceptionally good reason.
9. Atmosphere-less stage footage.
10. Over the top stories.

• Strengths found in previous students work:

1. Consistency through to the end.
2. A clear sense of genre and artist.
3. Well-shot footage.
4. A powerful performance.
5. A good simple effective idea.
6. Judicious cutting.

6) Planning and Shooting.

• Timescale is crucial.
• The director would have no more than six weeks, from being given a brief, or first hearing a track, to plan, shoot and edit the video, then deliver it ready for the record company.
• It may not be the best thing if you have significantly longer.
• Often the most professional looking work is done under pressure to strict time constraints.
• Storyboard as much as you can. 
• Keep written records of everything so nothing is ever forgotten.
• Have time to have some costume changes so you can add variety to the video.
• Make sure you know the basics of how to use the camera, and that you have a working tripod before you go off to shoot.
• Check your footage early on in the shoot.

7) Editing.

• Break your footage down into chunks or load some footage then chop away what you definitely don't want before loading more. 
• Start editing straight away.
• Name files so you can find them and make sure everything is filed in your folder.
• Use effects sparingly and in a planned fashion.
• Line up material ready for lip-syncing. 
• It can be time consuming but it is crucial to the effectiveness of a finished piece. 
• Once the lip-syncing is achieved, you can start choosing which bits of the material will go into the finished video. 
• Cutaways can be inserted in awkward bits where miming has gone wrong or the camera is out of focus. 
• Expect to make compromises.
• May need to apply some filters to even up the lighting. 

8) Screening and feedback.

• Be ready to ask questions of your peers rather than just have say it was good or bad. 
• Try to get other forms of feedback too.

9) Writing.

• Follow the guidelines given by your teachers according to the A-Level spec which you are working towards.
• Don't fill it with excuses - blaming the equipment, the teachers, the actors etc. 
• The writing should:

1. Cover the whole process.
2. Use technical language accurate.
3. Include the feedback and our comments on it.
4. Relate it to real examples and their conventions.
5. Include an analysis of the finished product using the tools you would use to analyse real examples. 

10) Marking.

• Leave this to your teachers and look forward to a good grade.