Re-shoots

As mentioned from our audience feedback, we decided to reshoot the scenes where Kaden is singing in a brighter location. This way, we can also implement a wider range of shots such as close-ups, medium shots, wide shots, 'over-the-shoulder' shots which are all conventions of postmodern music videos such as Eminem - Not Afraid. You'll find that in some music videos, there isn't much variety in the camera shots. They remain relatively the same because the main focus is the artist and the song. Having low angles and high angles distract the audience and ruins the engagement between the video and the audience. The music video should be smooth and easy to follow therefore the camera should compliment that. However it could be argued that the artist's aims should be a higher priority than the audiences. With this intention, we also came up with the idea that Kaden should visit all the locations that Sid went on her dates. It adds some more interest and adds more screen time for the main singer which is a key convention in all music videos.

Day 3 + Digipak progress

For our third day of filming, we filmed at Millennium Square in Bristol. We needed to film our second 'date scene' where Sid 'likes' a picture of another boy on her phone, and the boy appears next to her. Sticking with the postmodern element of intertextual references, the boy is wearing a motorbike helmet which is a reference to Top Gear. The date seems to be going well however the boy proposes on the first date. Obviously receiving a negative reaction from Sid, she quickly 'unlikes' the photo and the boy disappears.

One of the main issues that we had filming the scene was the weather. The rain made it difficult for us to film in outdoor areas because we wanted to keep a sunny and bright atmosphere throughout the music video. We couldn't reschedule the shoot either due to some actors being busy throughout the week therefore this was the only day where the cast and crew was available. Another main issue was the public in areas that we wanted to film. We needed to make sure the background was clear of people as much as possible and we tried to keep this consistent throughout. Some things were beyond our control such as the police van in the background. However I think this filming session went rather well considering all these issues we had. We managed to get a variety of shots and we weren't rushed like before. We took our time to get all the shots we needed and wanted. We took multiple takes of the scene to get the scene just right. 

Like before, we took pictures of the guy who went on the date for our digipak inserts. This is a simulation, a postmodern element where the distinction between media and reality has collapsed because the guy is wearing a helmet in a date picture which is definitely not typical of what dating apps are like. You usually see people without wearing things that cover their face. The helmet itself is a reference to Kill Bill and Top Gear. Again, this is the same picture that the girl sees on her phone and with the previous insert on day 2, it's simplistic and has the Twitter theme.

Audience Feedback for Magazine Ad Mid-production

These are our magazine adverts that we have made so far, they are rough edits and not the final product. We asked eight 17-18 year olds what they thought of the magazine adverts and below are their responses.

Magazine Ad 1

Magazine Ad 2

2. What do you like about our magazine adverts? (multiple choice)

What do you think we should improve on? (multiple choice)

From the audience feedback, we decided to focus on improving the colour scheme, the font and the editing of our magazine advert. We felt that we shouldn't try to change the mise en scene, camera shot/angle and composition because not only was it popular amongst our audience, it is also incredibly difficult to change it having already taken the photos. Since it was 50/50 for both our magazine adverts, it meant that we were going along the right lines in our magazine adverts because they're both equally as good.

Audience Feedback for CD Covers + Digipak Mid production

What do you like about our digipak inserts?

What do you think we should improve on for our digipak inserts

 

What do you like about our CD covers?

What do you think we should improve on for our CD cover?

From the results of the audience feedback for our CD covers, we decided to focus on improving the colour scheme, font and editing. I think these are the primary features we need to improve in order to achieve the highest grade possible. They are the essential parts of the CD cover and if those three key factors are not optimized then we won't feel satisfied. It's difficult to change mise en scene and camera shot/angle because we have already taken the pictures and it would be too late to change this late into the process. Since mise en scene was the highest part that people liked about our CD cover, we wouldn't change it anyway.

From the results of the audience feedback for our digipak inserts, we decided to focus on improving editing and composition because personally, I also feel we need to make the inserts more appealing. Colour scheme was relatively popular amongst our audience therefore we will be keeping this blue colour scheme because if it isn't broken, we shouldn't fix it. 

Audience Feedback for Music Video Mid production

We showed fellow pupils aged 17-18 what we have filmed and edited so far in our music video and this is the video:

Here are the responses to the video with audio interviews:

From the interviews we can hear that nearly all of them said that the lighting was too dark for some of the scenes with Kaden singing. Lighting plays a huge role in music videos and can determine the mood and atmosphere of the scene. If the audience cannot see what is happening in the scene then we cannot convey our message across and the artist will not be seen. Therefore we decided to reshoot that part in a brighter location so the audience can see more clearly and so the main singer gets recognition as it's typical of music videos. We also decided to include more intetextual references as suggested by the audience so we're going to put more masks which have hints towards other media and more references (such as Youtube and Twitter) to other pop culture. There was a relationship between the music and the visuals especially with the coat wearing shot therefore we're going to include more shots that sync with the music's beat which shows that it complies with Andrew Goodwin's Six Features of a Music Video. It was essential that we focused on Andrew Goodwin's theory because if the music video didn't fit with that theory then according to Andrew Goodwin, it wasn't a music video. The narrative is obviously unclear because the music video isn't finished yet however people liked the music videos based on performance alone and music videos are infamous for having unclear narratives therefore the narrative does not need to be coherent in order for the music video to be good. From prior audience feedback, people don't find music videos to be necessary so that reinforces my point. The fact that our music video is not typical of a hip-hop music video shows how postmodern our music video is because despite using some conventions of the hip-hop genre, we made it more original and combined a variety of postmodern elements.

Day 2 + Digipak progress

For our second day of filming we needed to film the second date scene so we figured that a park would work really well to set the scene. It also has bright vibrant colours so it makes things visually more clear. We used the outside of St Mary Redcliffe Church to film this scene. I think the shoot was rather rushed as we only had an hour to film due to people having busy schedules. However I think we got the essential shots done which is the most important part.

We had a bench where our female lead sat on to browse through her phone to select her 'ideal man', she would click 'like' and the man would appear next to her. I think this is a neat little postmodern element bringing some simulation into the music video. We mainly used close-ups and wide shots in this scene to give the audience a clear view of what is happening. Sid's (our female lead) bag gets stolen during the date by a thief, the 'ideal man' chases after him however when he returns, it is revealed that the whole thing was a prank and was set up by the man and the thief. Sid then 'unlikes' the 'ideal man' on her phone and both the man and the thief disappear. In my opinion, the way it was shot was rather cheesy however I think this is very postmodern as it is bringing intertextual references and rather parodic of prank videos that are on Youtube. There is meant to be a comedic tone to this scene therefore not to be taken seriously.

Furthermore we managed to take some shots for the digipak inserts of our CD. We also edited it to create a simplistic yet stylistic approach to the inserts. Inserts are typically simple and something extra for consumers to look at because the main priority is the front cover and the back cover. This is the same picture that the girl sees in the music video so this insert creates a link between the product and the music video which is what consumers want. The mask is an intetextual reference to a Japanese anime series called Naruto. The character is also very comedic so it makes sense to include it and would attract a wider audience.

Planning Day 2 + 3 of filming

For our second and third day of filming, we need to get Sid to go on dates with two people but they go horribly wrong in the most random and postmodern ways possible. The picture below describes each event and how we are going to film them.

Day 1 of Filming + Initial Ideas for Print Work + Digipak

We filmed at the Black Swan pub to get the beginning scene and the second to last scene done. We slightly changed our idea from the storyboard and decided to use more than one location for our music video therefore the majority of our music video will take place in other locations. It was rather rushed because we were short on time. Also the area in which we were filming was quite dark therefore some of the footage that we got was unclear. Filming Cameron's part was the main priority which we managed to do with ease. There were problems with trying to sync his mouth to the lyrics. However one of the main ideas in our music video is the use of the phone and how the girl (Sid) likes a photo of a boy and they will appear. Therefore we implemented that idea to the reason why Cameron is looking down at his phone, because he's checking whether she has liked it or not. 

We used a variety of camera shots and movements in our scene including arcs, medium shots, close-ups, tracking shots and made sure Cameron (the singer) was in the centre of the frame at all times because that is a key convention in hip-hop rap music videos. 

The scene itself is an intertextual reference to the official music video by Kyle - @Foundbae where the camera arcs around the singer. 

Here is an unfinished edit of Cameron's scene.

As you can see, it's very unfinished and some shots look very dark in contrast to other shots. I think that we may need to reshoot some of his shots to make it all look good. Colour correction will play a big part in our editing

We also filmed some of Kaden's date scenes which would be intertwined with Sid's dates since there will be jump cuts between each scene. However the location was just too dark to work therefore Kaden will film his scene on his own because it doesn't require many people to do his scenes. I do think that we learnt from this experience and will use this as a basis to film our other scenes. 

Print work ideas

In addition to getting the filming done, we also had time to get some pictures for our print work. We decided to use the two main guys for our pictures, Kaden and Cameron and they can represent a 'two sides of the same coin' kind of thing. The first picture is a rough idea of what we are aiming for with Kaden looking like an average person staring into the camera with a straight face. It's not very typical of CD covers so we might not use that picture. On the other hand, the second picture below is very typical of CD covers because the artist is not looking at the camera and there is a good contrast between light and dark. There is also a smugness to his facial expression and he is wearing the same clothes as in the music video therefore the pictures provide a link between the CD cover and the music video which is very typical of normal CD covers. 

Ultimately, we decided to come up with a simplistic and stylistic idea for our CD inserts (Digipak) which involves a picture of the date guy that is the same as on the girl's phone with a Twitter theme in the background to show that it's related to the music video. As with most inserts in CD's, they don't have much information and are an extra touch along with getting the CD. Therefore we chose something that is nice to look at and a neat touch.