The Black and White Effect

For our music video, we wanted the shots of the character struggling in black and white to emphasise this. However the set black and white effect did not have enough contrast and therefore wasn't the effect we wanted.

We therefore played around with the brightness and contrast of the black and white effect to get the desired effect.

For some of the shots we had to alter it slightly as it was too dark in places.

Market Research Questionnaire Results

market research

Market Research Questionnaire

Market Research 2


I am going to ask a variety of people a range of questions about the album covers and magazine adverts which I had made drafts of. From this I will be able to make a conclusion upon which one is the most effective and suitable.

The questions I will be asking are as followed:

Which one catches your eye and stands out the most?

Which one is more typical (conventional) for a hip hop genre album cover/magazine advert?

Our music video for this song is about a boxer who never gives up on his dreams and ambitions, which one illustrates this the most?



For each of these questions I will be asking them for reasons why they have made their choice.

In Depth Story Board with Shooting Schedule

Shooting Schedule

Location Shots, Shooting Schedule and Risks

Story Board Copy 1

Here is our rough copy of our story board.

This is our first draft of it, so it is very rough and does lack some detail. However it does provide us with enough information to start filming some shots.

Shot Type Ideas

I got inspired by a training video of an Olympic weightlifter and had the idea of using a couple of the shots in our music video. The range of close ups and establishing shots really worked well in the video so we would like to recreate this in our music video.

We also had the idea of having the first half of the video in black and white when the character is failing to succeed, but as he becomes stronger and more motivated the shots become in colour.

Similar to this idea, we are going to have the first half of the video containing a lot of high angle shots to make the character looked down upon and weak. But as he becomes more motivated we will do a range of low angle shots looking up at the character who will seem powerful and successful.

Magazine Advert

For this advert I took a slightly less conventional approach to it. As our video is going to be based around a boxer trying to succeed, I was inspired by a boxing poster I saw (above) and decided to do my advert in the same theme.

This makes my advert more of a poster, in the style of a boxing poster but with all the information needed for a new release album.

This is very catchy and sets the theme of the song and video.

However, this is just a draft and therefore I have used pictures of famous boxers - if I was to use this style of advert then we will have to take the pictures ourselves.

Presentation

Album Cover Draft 2

This is my second draft for an album cover.

This time I've gone for a more plain approach, quite like The Killers album that I analysed  However I have focused the whole album around the band's name - highlighting it's importance and making it stand out. I also picked the font type carefully to fit in with the hip hop genre.

Magasine Advert Draft 1

Here is my first draft of what my magasine advert will hopefully look like.

I made sure that the band name was in the largest font and stood out from everything else, this to to make it the most important thing on the cover.

I also included quotes ande ratings from other magasines on the advert, this is very conventional for a album advert.

The art work I chose is in the same theme as the art work of the album, this is also conventional.

Shooting Schedule, Risk Assessment and Location Shots

Album Cover Draft

 

 

 

Here is an idea I have put together of a digi-pack for our song. Here we have the front cover as well as the inside cover. the theme of the front cover is matched to the theme of the video. The idea being a silhouette of a boxer with the bright flashes of cameras behind him. This shows the fame and achievements most ambitious athletes chase after. The inside cover is the front on image of the front cover, showing the boxer and the ring behind him. This will give the audience some indication of the theme of the song and the video - motivating and inspiration.  

Summary

Video Analysis


From the videos I have analysed, I have gained a lot of information about the techniques used when filming a video of this theme; inspirational/motivational. As our video will be based along the same theme, i can use the analysis to help create the type of shots and narrative I want in my video. Also, analysing the videos has taught me the balance between narrative and performer which I wish to mimic in my video.


Album Cover Analysis

By analysing many album covers I have experienced the many different ways in which artists and bands like to portray their views through the album. I have analysed albums of the Hip Hop genre which is the genre our song is in, and also analysed other genres to get a comparison. From this I can decide whether my album cover will be conventional or not for a Hip Hop album cover.

Advert Analysis

From the adverts I have analysed, I have learnt about what is conventional for different genres. I can now use this information to decide whether my advert for my song will be conventional or not conventional for a hip hop genre advert.

Audience Research

We used the six questions that we had put together and went out and asked a number of different people. in total we asked 20 people the six questions.

10 of these people were male and aged between 15-18
7 of these people were female and aged between 15-18
and 3 of these people were male aged over 18.



Audience

Plan B - Advert analysis

Wretch 32 - Tractor album cover

Audience Research

For my audience research i want to be specific to the 'hip-hop' genre as this is the genre of our chosen song.
I want to go in depth and figure out what is considered conventional for this genre, then i can use this information for the planning of the video.

Here are the questions which I will ask to a range of different people:

1.       Our genre is “Hip Hop”, what would expect to see in a music video to do with this genre?

2.        In a music video, do you prefer a story line or performance?

3.        How long do you think an average Hip Hop music video should last?

4.        Would you expect to see the artist/band in the music video?

5.        What images and ideas come into your head when you hear this type of music?

6.        As our music video is about motivation and not giving up a passion, what would you expect to see?

Advert Analysis

Everlast - White Trash Beautiful Cover

50 Cent - Guess Who's Back

The Killers - Hot Fuzz album cover

Everlast - What It's Like

The Fighter - Gym Class Heroes

This is the video I have anaylsed below.
I have chosen this video as we have decided to take the apporach of the narrative very similar to this ones.

1. The first shot we see is a close up of a mans face, there is no music being played yet which causes tension to build as the man is expressionless. Then we here a voice over of the man identifying himself as an Olympic hopeful. We immediately understand where the narrative of this video is going. The video was posted in March of 2012, so the video taking up a narrative of an athlete leading up to the Olympics is very relevant and interesting to the audience.

2. As the music starts we see a close up of the piano and the musicians hands as he is playing it. This shows that the video is not going to be all narrative and will star a lot of performer shots too, this is conventional for a hip-hop style video.

3. The next shot is an over-the-shoulder shot of the athlete walking down a street. the shot tracks the athlete making us feel as if we are following him in a day of is life. The use of black and white becomes apparent, it may be used here to show emotion or to make him not stand out from everyone else - like a normal man, not an Olympic athlete.

4. Here the lyrics link with the characters actions. The singer says 'Just waking up in the morning' as the athlete is washing his face.

5. It then goes to a establishing of him training in a gymnasium. This instantly shows the audience that he is a gymnast. The use of colour in this shot shows that when he is training he stands out, as he is very talented - compared to the black and white shots were he seems like everybody else. The shot also shows him falling into the pit, which yet again links with the lyrics.

6. We then see a medium shot of the singer performing. This is conventional for a hip hop artist as he is showing off his designer clothes and his branded headphones; it is also used as advertising to make his face well known and famous.

7 & 8. In 7 we see a shot of him in colour gripping the handle in training, this then suddenly flashes to a similar close up shot of him gripping the handle in a bus in black and white. This use of fast editing and similar shot types is used to help create contrast in his lifestyle - training in amazing facilities and showing off his talent, but then travelling home by himself by bus. It may also show how much hard work he is putting in and not getting the most out of it, but still carries on.

9. Here we see an establishing shot of where he trains. The shot shows off the amazing and professional facilities he is working it. The use of text helps establish this.

10. This shot shows his dedication to his love of the sport. It shows that even when he is not training he is still practising and he is forever thinking about his goals.

11. The use of a close up on the athletes eyes shows his emotions. We can see that he is thinking about the Olympics and almost see the 'ambition in his eyes'.

12. We then see a shot of the performer singing in the changing rooms, this likes the performance to the narrative.

13. Here is another link to the lyrics, 'if you fall, pick yourself up off the floor'. This is been said as the Athletes falls over, and looks in pain.

14. 'And when your bones can't take no more', this is said as the athlete looks to have failed in practice.

15. However this next close up emphasises how he has now succeeded and has landed perfectly.

16. The last shot is a close up of the Athletes eyes again. This time the music has stopped and a tear is going down his face. This shows how passionate and dedicated the Athlete is - how much it means to him.

Hall of fame from 08pchen

A2 Media

Any posts after this one shall be for my A2 Media project of creating a music video.

Final Task woth Soundtrack

Final Task without Soundtrack

How have you improved since your preliminary task?

How did you attract/address your audience?

What have you learnt about technologies and the construction of your product?

1. This is where we added in the soundtrack we wanted.

2. Here we added in sound effects; a dog barking and the sound of a car alarm and heavy breathing.

3. Here is where we control the volume.

4. This is how we created the CCTV effect we wanted.

5. This is where we added in the text which appears on top the shots. In this case the text showed the characters and the actors.

We also learnt many new skills when filming the clips. We became fluent with the camera movements and technical aspescts of filming.

We also learnt new aspects to YouTubewhich we have not used before. This included uploading our videos to a YouTube account. This also allowed us to get feed back on peoples views on our project.

Who would be the audience of your film?

What kinds of media institutions might distribute your film and why?

How does your product represent particular social groups?

In what ways does your product, use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real films?

Finished video with 28 weeks later soundtrack

Audience research

We went about asking various people a couple of question of what they would expect in an opening to an action film. Overall, we got very simular answers from everybody and we used this to establish what we need to do when filming this task.

in conclusion, we understood that people, when watching an action film, will expect a lot of action and a very up-beat and tense atmostphere. People also said that they would not expect this opening scene to drag on longer then a couple of minutes. 

Here is an example of the types of questions we asked, in this case to a friend of mine at school (Troy). 

Risk Assesment

When in the process of filming, all actors, cast and crew will all be aware of any potential dangers and risks. I have gone through and anaylsed the risks which we will have to take on board. When filming, Tom, James and myself will all do this in the upmost proficiency and maturity.

Plot

the opening scene to my main task will start by establishing the main characters. This is done by a couple of shots showing the contrast between a criminal and two policemen. 

the policemen come across the criminal selling drugs, they shout and as they do the picture freezes and goes into black and white showing the characters names underneath them. the scene then carries on but sped up to see the criminals startled face and then freezes on him in the same style, with his name underneath. 

a chase now occurs with the policemen chasing after the criminal who doesnt have any intension on stopping.

the last scene will show the criminal throwing an object (most likley a bin bag) at the policemen and rubish going everywhere. throughout this last clip, the use of slow motion and speeding up will be used. then the characters run past the stationary camera and the titles come up on a black background in white writing. 

Shooting Schedule and Location Shots

There are 25 shots that we need to film in our opening scene, this does not include the title shots. We have decided to start filming straight after half term and do 5 shots a day. We are either going to film these shots during lesson time or between 5-6 o'clock after school, this way it will be a lot darker which will suit our opening scene. As there is very little dialogue in our scene a script is not going to be necessary, however we are going to film each shot multiple times in order to get it perfect. Then at the end of the week (and the week after if needed) we are going to go through the shots we filmed and pick out the best ones and then edit them together.

Whilst constructing our story board, we took the approach of using still shots instead of drawings. This helped us establish the location of each shot. All the locations we decided on are around the school, this makes it very easy for us to film. However we took a lot of time deciding where to do each shot as we want to make each shot look as if it is being filmed in an urban area.

Gangs Of New York Opening

Camera

The first camera shot we see is a close up. The close up is used to show the expression on the characters face, we get a sense of power from this character as his face is quite emotionless and cold even when he cuts himself shaving.

We then see the camera follow the characters hand holding his razor to give it to a younger character. The close up camera shot of this lets the audience establish its significant as it represents a father passing down a very manly item to his son. It also lets the audience think about why the father has no use of this item anymore, and possibly foreseeing something bad happening to him in the near future which he is aware of.   

The shot reverse shot between the father and his son both at eye level and looking straight at the camera shows the similarities between these two characters and how close they are as relatives, this could also be a point of view shot. We also see the boy’s determination and passion as he speaks about a Saint. We then see how proud the father, as he is a pope.

The low angle shot, looking up at the pope marching out holding a cross in one hand. This gives the audience a sense of the characters power.

As the characters are marching out, the camera is constantly moving. This goes well with the upbeat music as it makes the scene high tempo and intense.

The camera then zooms out revealing an establishing shot of the location of the scene. From this shot the audience can truly grasp the hectic, noisy and busy scene this introduction is set in. 

Sound

In the very first clip all we can here is the sound of the characters blade shaving his face. This immediately sets an tense atmosphere and builds up tension.

We then here a narrator’s voice and talking in the past tense about this scene. This shows that the scene is a flash back and the small boy is the narrator at a young age.

The music starts being played and the audience can instantly tell that the music represents this cult gang as it is mostly drums being played by hand and a whistle, reminds the audience of a tribe. It is also very upbeat and high tempo which fits the new high tempo atmosphere in the scene.

There is also a constant sound of people shouting and talking behind the music. This gives off the impression of a busy atmosphere and very hectic.

The music gradually increases speed and intensity. Then suddenly, when a character kicks open a door to a courtyard, the music stops and it is silent. This silence goes well with the emptiness of the scene as the audience would expect there to be something exciting after the build up. This creates a contrast to the noisy scene before.

Editing

In the scene there is a sequence of clips of men and women preparing for war merged into together to create a montage. This is particularly effective as it is fast and fits in with the upbeat music being played. It also shows the audience the importance of this event as there are many people preparing for it. It also sets a vibrant atmosphere for the audience.

Mise-en-scene

Throughout the introduction, it is set in a dark cave looking location. This gives the impression that they are an gang. There are also people playing drums and dancing around which gives off signs of tribal gangs.

story board (slides 10,11 and 12)

Story Board