Research and Planning Self Assessment

Research into existing music videos

I feel that i have excellent evidence of research into existing music videos. This is because i have three examples of different music videos that either my chosen artist or another artist in the same music genre as my chosen artist. This shows that i have looked at different song that my artist has sang but also look at people similar to her and taken ideas from what they have done too. In future i will add Jemma's examples to my blog too as we worked together on these to complete extra work and research for our music video.

Research into a potential target audience

I feel i have good evidence of researching into my potential target audience. This is because i have looked at the audience theory which includes the hypodermic needle theory, cultivation theory, two step flow, uses and gratifications. I have also done work on my chosen artist and the type of audience that would be targeted for her. I will look into the different outfits that people wear of that age and of my chosen artist so that i can get the costume planning correct for our music video. 

Work on storyboarding

I think i have shown good evidence of story boarding on my blog. I have uploaded my animatic of what we would like our music video to look like. However, i feel that i could have added screen shots into the post about how i made the animatic to help explain the process. 

Time management

I think that i have shown good time management as i have caught up on all work that had been done before i joined the course, whether that be watching the videos, reading articles or making and creating posts. I have also kept up to dat with all work that has needed to be done and have completed extra in some parts of the research - for example, the research into music videos. 

Use of digital technology or ICT 

I feel that i have shown good skills of using different digital technology. This is because i have used photos, videos and different presentation software to present different things. For example, using premier pro for my animatic and Prezzie for my pitch. I could use different types of presentation sites to present my work in future to show that i am able to use different types of digital technology.  

Communication skills

I would say that i have good communication skills. I have done lots of writing in my posts and most are grammatically correct, however, i can sometimes use the wrong spelling. 

Level of care taken in the presentation of work

I feel that the level of care in the presentation of my work is excellent. I feel this because i have use different ways of presenting my work. For example, using Prezzie, pictures, videos and keeping all my text the a suitable font. 

Planning: Shot List

	Shot type	Actor	Description
1	ES- REVERSE	Ellie	Ellie will be sat on  a bench (allows viewer to recognise the main cast member) and the film will then go in to reverse
2	CU-REVERSE	N/A	Close up shot of Ellie walking backwards on the stairs
3	TS-REVERSE	Ellie and Harry	The two actors will meet outside the carpark and reverse will stop.
4	CU	N/A	a close up of the stairs where Ellie will be walking up them, the focus of the shot will be of her shoes.
5	ECU	Ellie	Locket necklace that Ellie will be wearing.
6	CU	Ellie	Ellie lip syncing to the song.
7	LS	Ellie	Ellie sat on the bench lip syncing to the song
8	CU, OTS	N/A	Ellie will be holding a polaroid picture of her and harry looking at it.
9	CU	Ellie	close up of Ellie lip syncing to the song
10	LS	Ellie	Ellie sat on the bench lip syncing to the song
11	ECU	N/A	Timetable showing that Ellie's transport is delayed. Amplifies the song.
12	MS	Ellie	Ellie waiting and singing to song
13	ECU	Ellie	Ellie lip syncing to the song
14	TS,CU	Ellie and Harry	Home video of the two looking at each other
15	TS,LS	Ellie and Harry	Home video of the two taking a picture in the mirror
16	LS	Harry and dog	Harry playing with the dog in the park
17	ECU	Ellie	Ellie lip syncing to the song
18	TS	Ellie and Harry	Home video of them making funny faces at the camera
19	CU	Ellie	Ellie lip syncing
20	ECU	N/A	Ellie will be holding a polaroid picture of her and harry looking at it.
21	TS,LS	Ellie and Harry	Both of them holding hands and looking at each other.
22	LS	Ellie	Ellie sat on the bench lip syncing to the song
23	TS	Ellie and Harry	The two actors will meet outside the carpark.
24	CU	N/A	Stairs
25	CU	Ellie	Ellie lip syncing
26	ELS	Ellie	Ellie looking at a wall of polaroid pictures
27	MS	Ellie	Ellie looking outside a window lip syncing to song
28	ECU	N/A	Locket necklace that Ellie will be wearing.
29	CU	Ellie	Ellie lip syncing
30	TS	Ellie and Harry	The two actors will meet outside the carpark.
31	HAS	Ellie and Harry	Home video of the two lying on the floor looking up at the camera
32	TS	Ellie and Harry	Home video of the two looking at each other.
33	TS	Ellie and Harry	The two actors will meet outside the carpark.
34	HAS	Ellie and Harry	Home video of the two looking at each other.
35	LAS, CU	Ellie and Harry	The two actors holding hands
36	ELS	Ellie and Harry	The two actors walking holding hands
37	LAS, Tilt up	Ellie	Ellie walking on a path towards the camera
38	MS, Tilt up	Ellie	Ellie walking on a path towards the camera.
39	ECU, Tilt up	Ellie	Ellie walking towards the camera and lip syncing.

Although we won't fully stick to this shot list i have created it to give us a plan of what shots we need to practice and how we can use variety of shots. To create this shot list i watched our animatic and followed it closely pausing it at each change within the animations and decided on the shot that will best suit the scene and situation.

As you can see we are planning to have 39 shots with some being repeated with the same cast members. Next to each shot and cast member we have included a description so we understand why we have chose to use a certain shot and the meaning behind it. We are also planning on printing this plan out to look at as a reference when we are filming and give to cast members so they can get an understanding of what will be happening.

Planning: Casting

Casting the right person for our music video is very important as they make the piece more realistic. Casting is also important as we need to have the correct people that will understand our ways of communicating and be able to adapt to any changes in our music video. We will be casting a male and female. The male we will be casting typically needs to be comfortable around all people and be confident around the camera. The female will also need to be camera confident, she will also need to lip sync effectively to our chosen song and be friendly to all. We also want people who don't take everything seriously but can see the importance of filming the video and having it completed up to a high standard.

To gain the correct people we made a application form and asked a selection of males and females to fill it in answering the questions we provided and give details about themselves. After we had received all of the applications we shortlisted it down to 4 people that we thought fitted the description we asked for. We then found out more information about them and went on to write a small summary about their strengths and weaknesses included with pictures of themselves which we have included within this blog post. By completing this it gave allowed us to pick between who will be the best for our video.

  This is a screenshot of our application form

 that we made and gave to individuals.

This is Ellie, Ellie is a friendly individual who is confident around people of all ages and abilities. She is also a singer meaning she has experience of singing in front of large crowds and at times in front of a camera.This is also a bonus as she won't be afraid to sing in front of people when we are filming and she will be able to make the 'lip syncing' realistic. Ellie can be very mature at times and at times relax and be immature. As we will be having two sides of fun and seriousness i think Ellie will be suitable for this as she can make the two personalities realistic. She is usually busy at weekends but will be willing to change some of her plans and is free weekdays after 3pm.


                                                             

This is Sophie, Sophie is very confident and loud around those she is comfortable with for example her friends and family. Sophie is very camera shy and doesn't like having photos or videos being taken of her. She also finds it hard to stay serious this isn't suitable for our video as in parts she will need to look serious and sad. Sophie also has no experience of performing on her own in front of large crowds. She doesn't have a lot of space in the week for us toarrange a filming time with her as she is dedicated to other things such as her job and out of school clubs.

                                                                 

This is Harry, He is a very committed person to anything he  to anything he is involved in .This is a good thing to have as we will need someone to be committed to the filming schedule we have made and won't back out at anytime. Harry is a friendly,confident person around all people and doesn't have    a busy timetable resulting in a possibility of him being free when we are  planning to film our video.

                                                               

 This is Jake he has experience of performance but is extremely shy when he is infront of a camera and looses his self-esteem. This isn't suitable for what we are looking for although he has experience in the industry we are studying confidence is a key factor that we are looking at and he doesn't have this. Jake is committed to his school work and with exams coming up is unable to find a free space.

                                           








Out of the two females we decided to short list we chose Ellie to have the main role. We chose Ellie as she has more experience than Sophie as a performer she will make the video realistic and after we did a lip sync test with her decided that it will be easier to edit as she has this experience. She is also more willing to change her plans to film and to us seems more passionate and enthusiastic about filming our video than Sophie.

Out of the two males we decided to pick Harry due to the fact that he is more confident than Jake and has a less busy schedule therefore we will find it easier to arrange times of filming with him. Harry also has the commitment 'factor' which stood out to us as we need someone to realise how important this is and be committed to filming and not let us down.

We did some practise lip-syncing in the school theatre with Ellie before we cast her so that we knew she was comfortable in front of the camera , could learnt lyrics to songs and could use her facial expressions to tell a story through the song.

Planning : Filming Locations

House 1 - Kitchen

We have chosen this location because there is a lot of space in the kitchen. This will make it easier to film in as there will be enough space for the cast and the camera, enabling us to move around and get different shots and angles. The kitchen is also a well lit room and has basic colours therefore it won't distract the audience and will make them just focus on the actors. Although it is a bright room we may need extra lights as at certain times in the day it can get dark and we need to keep it the same contrast of lighting throughout so we can get a clean shot and if any re-filming needs to be done this can be completed.

House 2 -Kitchen 

We have chose this location is a different kitchen in a different location to the first one. We have chose to have this as it has an island in the middle of the room therefore we could have the actors around this and film from an appropriate angle allowing the audience to understand what they are doing. We have also chose to use this kitchen as it shows what type of relationship the couple have, going round to each others house and spending time with their families. 

House 2 - Back garden

We picked this location as this is a large grass area and links the kitchen to another part of the house. It is a suitable surrounding that has a lot of light areas which will allow our shots to be clean and clear.This is also a typical garden in a house that a normal family will have which we are trying to convey that our actors are just a typical couple teenage couple spending time with each other.

Park

We have chose to use the park as it is a place where a lot of teenagers hang out and families will go to. The park is also seen as a romantic place where couples will go to spend time with each other and we want this to come across in our video as the song is about love and being in a long distance relationship.

Train Station - Waiting room

This has been chosen as in the song it refers to a airport waiting room. Unfortunately there isn't an airport near by to where we live. So we have decided to use the train station waiting room instead as this is typically the same place but will avoid showing things such as train station signs in our shot. 

Car Park

This car park was picked because this was the car park outside the train station and replicates the one at an airport. It is also close to the train station waiting room so that we can change some filming of the actor walking away, into reverse for our opening of the music video. We are also using the car park as a place where the couple say goodbye to each other and also become reunited.

Bedroom

We are using this bedroom because this would be a place that a couple may go. It will be a bedroom in house 1. It has a mirror in and this will be good to use as we can film the couple in the mirror so that we can see them both in one shot.

Planning: Lighting

To be completed later

Planning: Props

Props are an important factor to music videos as they make the video become more realistic and amplify what is happening. We are only planning to use a small amount of props and have a budget of £5 therefore we won't be using a wide variety of props that we will need to buy.

The most used prop we will be using will be polaroid pictures and we are planning to make these on our own. We are doing this so we stick to our budget as from some research we have done on the cost to get them ready made by a company called photobox.com for 36 prints it will be £19.99 which is over our budget of £5. This is also quite pricey to only print 36 pictures,  especially when we will need more than 36 as we want the main character to be looking through several different photos and create a background of a wall of polaroids.

We also came up with the idea to make them by searching how to make polaroid pictures on pinterest. Pinterest is a social media site where people post DIY's with instructions, fashion trends and gift ideas. Using pinterest we found a blog where they showed us how to make polaroid pictures using a website called picmonkey. We are planning to use the 30 free day subscription to the site and will print of the pictures from there.

As our main cast member will be leaving to go somewhere and it is held in a waiting room we are planning to use our own suitcases from home and have them around the cast member when they are lip syncing in this location. The use of this prop will make the scene look more realistic and amplify the lyrics and meaning of the song. Along with the suitcases the main cast member will be holding a takeaway coffee cup representing that she is tired,cold and bored of waiting.

Within our music video we will be having a variety of 'home' videos of the couples playing in the chorus. In one of the videos we will be having the couple carving a pumpkin therefore one of our main props will be the pumpkin and the tools they will be using to carve it. In another one of the home videos we will be having the couple walking and playing with the dog, the dog will be a prop as it is an extra in this scene and doesn't feature in the whole video. There will also be a video where the couple are baking so the props being used will be baking equipment with the location of a kitchen.

Research: Green Screen Practise

I have learnt how to use and edit a green screen for my music video. This has let me experiment with the types of editing tools and effects that i can now input into the music video. I used Adele's 'Rolling In The Deep' and some footage of myself sining/miming to the song and used this for green screen practise and for practising how to match the lip syncing to the original lyrics.


Firstly, i picked the part of the music video i wanted to use as the back ground and put this into video 2. I then got the audio for the whole song and entered that into audio 1. From the footage i had taken of myself singing the song, i chose the first part of this and then entered this into video 1.





I then put an eight point garbage mat and an ultra key onto the footage of myself singing.
I then clicked on the effect controls to open up the controls for the eight point garbage mat and the ultra key.








I click on the eight point garbage mat and then dragged the dots inwards so that i cut most of the green screen out. I was careful to to crop any of myself out as it i was to move in this piece of footage then that part of me would disappear.






I then clicked on the ultra key's key colour and clicked on the green background in the footage which was still left. This then made anything in the footage that was green disappear.
 

Below is what my green screen practise video looks like. 

Planning : Filming Schedule

To be completed:)

Planning : Costume

Costume is a very important piece of Mise-en-Scene in any media product, especially music videos. There are key ideas to consider when looking for costumes:

• The costumes/s keep in the theme of the of the music video. Foe example, if someone was dressed in a football strip, the audience would automatically have an idea of that person's personality and, if too bright, may district from what the performer is actually doing in that scene. 

• The costume must appeal to the target audience. For example, Zara Larsson's target audience are teenage girls and young female adults. If the outfit worn was a full football strip, the target audience would not find this appealing and may dislike the music video because of this. The performer wants the target audience to like them and this can be done through outfits choices.

• The performer must be comfortable in the chosen outfit so that they are not visually unhappy as the emotions shown and portrayed in this music video need to be suitable for the chosen song.

• The  chosen outfit must be afordable. Although there are many many different costumes in my music video, i need to know all the cost as there is a budget to the amount of money we ca spend when making this music video. 

Our chosen artist is Zara Larsson, a 17 year old girl, who keep up the new trend and fashion that comes into the shops, just like most teenage girls.

One costume that we will use in our music video is when Zara Larsson will be wearing a autumn  coloured , scrappy top with some black jeans. This would be suitable for the character of Zara Larsson as the colours in very fashionable at this time of year (autumn) but is still in keeping with the time of year that the music video would be released. Floral tops have also become very fashionable for teenagers to wear. Zara Larsson is the type and age of an artist that likes to keep up with the in fashions. It will also have a black cardigan to go with the outfit.
Black jeans are the neutral  part of the costume. Black jeans can go with lots of different types of tops and is in keeping with the time of year that this costume would be used in the music video. Black jeans are very fashionable for teenagers so this is something that Zara, aged 17, would wear.
This theme will be  carried on throughout the rest our home videos used in the music video.

The makeup and hair would be very natural for this scene. Below is an example of what we will do our actor's hair like. I will be naturally curly/wavy and loosely put up into a ponytail. This will be done so that it is in keeping with the casual outfit that she will be wearing and with the other music videos from Zara Larsson that I have looked at.

Zara's 'boyfriend' in the music video will also need to be wearing clothing which is suitable for the time of year and the fashion at the time of the music video. Because of this i have looked into what different famous, male music artist wear which are around the same age as the 'boyfriend' would be. I have also looked at Zara's previous music videos to see what they wear too. I have decided that in the home videos, he will be casual and wearing plain colours so that the attention is on Zara and not too much on him.
He will be wearing washed out grey jeans which are suitable for the age of the boy and the style at that time. He will also be wearing a grey hoodie because these are very popular at this time with people in their teens. It is also not too bright so that it would distract the attention form the artist - Zara.


































In the part of the music video where our artist is at a train station, the costume will need to be more suitable for traveling and for a colder time of year to make her look like she is going away and staying away for a long period of time.

Grey is very in season and will still be at the time of filming. This top will be plain and not take the attention away from our artist's performance. This colour is also a colour that the target audience would be likely to wear as it is very popular with teenage people and young adults. The costing of this top is quite low, as it is a plain style of top and could be in the shop's sale. I will have to look at different shops for similar products or ask people i know to see if they have one that i could use.

I will then add blue skinny jeans to this outfit. This is because the colour of the top is not overpowering and will not clash with blue jeans. Blue skinny jeans are very in fashion and this will be something that many of the target audience will own and wear.
I will then add black shoes to this outfit so that the colours are all neutral and mix together well. This style of shoe is widely worn by the target audience and will appeal to them.












For our artist's hair will make sure it still looks quite natural as this is what we have seen in other music videos that she has made. Her hair will be loosely curled and braided around the head, framing the face.












In our final scene we will have autumn themed walk around a park. Both characters will be in this scene and will be wearing autumn style clothes.
For Zara, she will be wearing lots of layers as it will be a chilly morning walk in the autumn and the temperature would be very low.
She would be wearing black wash out jeans and an black high neck top. This is because the colours are not over powering and will mean that the extra parts added to this costume will stand out more on a monochrome 'background'. She will also be wearing a grey pair of heeled boots and a navy coat. The coat will have faux inside and hood, these will stand out and have a bigger impact on the all black costume as they will be the brightest and boldest colours. The faux on the coat will be an orange/brown colour which will represent the colours of autumn. The boots will be suitable for this time of year as It will be cold and the boots would be warm and protect her feet. She will also be wearing the love heart necklace that she will have worn the whole way through the music video to represent the love throughout their relationship.











The grey suede boots will bring a different edge to the look and will still not draw too much attention away from the yellow jumper. It will also make her look her age as many late teenager wear heeled boots and will also add to her hight so that she doesn't look too young. They will also be suitable for the time of year as it is colder than in the summer and will bring some sophistication to he look.









The male actor will be wearing black jeans as they are the fashion at the time and will be fitting in with the time of year. He will also wear a white top to contrast with the black jeans. He will also be wearing a navy faux coat which will show their similarities as a couple and fit in with the time of year. He will be wearing trainers as they will be going on a walk.