Test Shots with Lighting

Yesterday, me and Ella went to the college to get the equipment so we could use them to film on Thursday. In preparation for that, I thought I should practice a little with how to use all the equipment and what not. The one piece of equipment I'd never used before that we will be using on Thursday is the Top Light for the camera. I practiced assembling it and then using it to make sure it would be bright enough for what we need on Thursday.

The Camera with the top light attached.

I also did some test shots of anything diamond-ish I could find in my house. Obviously we won't use these shots in the video but I just wanted to see how it would all look with the lighting and if the light would be powerful enough.

Additional Prop - The Blueprint

Ahead of filming on Thursday, today I acquired one of our key props: the blueprint. 

It's bigger than A4 but smaller than A3.

This is an important prop for us as it is a key part of 'heist' iconography. It is something of a cliche almost but as our video is kind of an homage to the classic diamond heists it feels necessary. I found the picture by searching through the internet for an appropriate image both size and looks-wise. I also edited this picture on Photoshop before printing it as the original was a blue-print for a school and had things like 'Boys toilet' and 'Girls play-room' on it which didn't feel very diamond heist-ish so I edited them out.

Costume

For my performance shots I will be in black skinny jeans, my trainers, a tshirt and hoodie. The outfit will be slightly similar for the narrative shots.

Pitch Feedback and Reactions

Our pitch I think went really well, it was definitely the most enjoyable out of all of them. I was NOT looking forward to it and tried to skip it, however in the end I did come in to do it. And I'm glad I did.

We had backing music, lots of animations and kept the media very varied.
The reactions from our classmates were very good, there were a lot of laughs and no one had a problem with what we were doing. There were a few concerns about location, but we have it all sorted now.

The Band's Website

What to expect in a video

Along with going to the Arctic Monkeys site for fans ideas of what they'd like to see, I went to IGN's forums and posted in the Indie Rock section about the music video.

I got a few responses, some were inappropriate. 

I saw a lot of people saying they don't like music videos and feel that they aren't important, this is very interesting and I wasn't expecting to get responses like that.

"The fact that artists just make videos to go with their singles because that's what everyone does is a pointless and stupid trend that needs to die. Unless the video has an actual purpose, I don't want to see it." - garbarator, Oct 8, 2013

"honestly, if I can't mute the audio and still be entertained, it's a failure for me. THAT SAID, I've always hated music videos. I don't understand what they're for or why they exist, so, you know, take my opinion with a healthy dose of who the fuck cares." - Numendor, Oct 8, 2013

However, there was one helpful reply; 

"i would prefer it to be a short film basically, telling some sort of story. Showing the band perform isn't really necessary, and some of the time feels unnecessary (obviously it depends on what type of music video it is blahblahblah)" - spp41, Oct 8, 2013

This is also interesting as from experience we've seen videos which don't focus on a story and focus mainly on the band instead, especially in this genre. It;s nice to know people want a change.

Synergy

This slide of our Pitch briefly tells you how we're going to use Diamonds as a representative of our brand.

I have looked online at different uses of diamonds as a brand image and have created my own final one below which I would like to use. I am going to use this in the album cover, in the digipak, I will also try to incorporate it within the music video and introduction video.

Audience Member

I interviewed my Friend Sid as I knew he was exactly who we're aiming our music video at, he was very helpful and allowed me to understand our audience more.

Sid Eagle from Bromley
17 years old
White British Male
Unemployed
Shops at HMV
In his spare time he likes to play video games, run his YouTube channel and do Graphic Design, here are examples of his work;

He does not read newspapers or magazines
Uses the bus as transport
Uses his phone and games consoles a lot
His favourite brands are; Google, Nintendo, Valve and Game Freak. He gets his clothes from independent clothing sites, and enjoys Fanta as a drink the most.
He loves going to Spain for his holidays.

Finally, why he likes Arctic Monkeys: "They know how to write brilliantly catchy songs with great lyrical writing. Also mass talent."

And now over to Maria with the Weather

Thanks Maria. Now you didn't hear this from me but...



Alas, there is.



















But we're not filming on Monday and according to the Met Office the storm will have passed by Thursday when we're going to film. It's a good thing too because a storm is one of the few things we forgot to mention in our risk assessment.




Also we're filming indoors so I suppose technically the ceiling would protect us from bad weather, but I still feel this post was necessary. And now, over to Erin and Cathy with the weather in the Washington lowlands.

Filming Day One

So on Thursday the 24th we began filming some parts of our music video. It was nothing major and just a chance for us to get a feel for things and see what might work and what won't. Here is a short video about that day:

Weather and TFL updates for our filming day

Even though we will be filming indoors, this is fantastic news all around.

Media Retrospective 2

After the last month of blogging about my planning, I have realised there is a lot to talk about, and also a lot for me to reflect on and change in future.

I feel my blogging has been good, I have done a variety of different things not asked of me, as well as finally getting around to more planning and using more forms of media such as webcam videos, Windows Movie Maker videos, photoshop and GIFs and I think this has benefited me greatly in multiple ways. I believe I have improved on everything I have set out to improve upon and this fills me with confidence for the future of the blog and for the future of my Media A2 work.

Unfortunately, another problem has arisen and has been masterfully pointed out by Dan, who I thank wholeheartedly. It appears that our blog and it's contents such as the waving lady and the previous backgrounds that were used were, in the excellent words that they were originally put in... "retarded". I find this to be wonderful feedback and I think it is the finest form of constructive criticism I have ever received. I will be sure in future not to blog in such a "retarded" way, because the word is very helpful and is in no way offensive, meaning I am capable of taking my blogging to the next level.

In future I hope to...

• Get multiple blog posts out per day and supply a steady stream of unique and creative content
• Remove all "retarded" content from the blog

As you can see I have decided to take a more stern, serious approach to blogging this time, because apparently doing exactly what everybody else is doing and not having fun with my work is the way forward, judging from the reaction given previously, not by anybody in particular of course.

The waving lady must be removed from the blog because she really brings the quality down. I am clearly in no way agitated by the feedback given to us, because it was so excellent, and I definitely do not consider my blogging being called "retarded" offensive. Thanks!

Analysis of the Original Video

Well this is awkward, ya see, there was actually never an original music video for the Arctic Monkeys' cover of Diamonds Are Forever. In actuality this is absolutely perfect for us, because it means that we can go into the video and do literally anything we want without fears of it being compared to the original video, and besides, there's no way our video can be worse than nothing, right? Right?!

As this picture which I definitely did not steal from Ellie shows, the only videos of the song on the internet have very few views, and even when combined do not even reach a million views! Ha! How pathetic! This means not many people in college will know the song and thus we can more or less get away with anything without hurting the feelings of any of the college's Arctic Monkeys fans!

The Effect of Music Videos

Kids today are spoilt, with their music videos, internet piracy and their XStation 360 video games consoles. That's why they have music videos to help them to get into bands. Previously, a musician would have to viciously fight and claw for air time on the radio, but in the 80s there was a revolution, which came in the form of the music video. Music videos gave a new light to songs, allowing promotion of goods and companies, the telling of a story or if you're in the RnB game, just showing off and generally being a pretty unlikable person.

With the coming of the internet age we have been able to see just how vital music videos are to artists, with YouTube providing view counters which give some indication of who is viewing what, and this provides for a good commentary on just how vital music videos are for bands in terms of getting people to listen to their product. Below are two snapshots of official videos from the lead single from the amazing Yeah Yeah Yeahs' average new album 'Mosquito' - available in all good music shops and also HMV now. One is a still image video of the single cover with the song played over it, used to debut the song, and the second is the official music video played on TV. Guess which one is more popular.

 

If you said the official video would have more views, wow! Very doge! If not, well, sort it out okay mate? We can gather that music videos are more popular and therefore get a lot of television time, this has caused people to actively search for said video on the internet, bringing in more viewership and more popularity for the band, whereas the Sacrilege audio probably just attracted fans of Yeah Yeah Yeahs to it.

Don't Look Back in Anger (at the pitch) I heard you say...

Researching Heist's in Media

Heist Scenes in Films

Although we aren't stealing a painting, I thought this film mirrored the same narrative we do.
St Trinians is a film that came out 6 years ago, and the plot is, they steal a painting from an art gallery.
Because the film has a much much much bigger budget than we do they have more special effects and the location is much grander, however, our music video will still be good.

This shot emphasises the location, we can do that although our video has more of a dark vibe.




This shot gives the strong impression of a heist with the invisible lasers. We thought about doing that but realised it wouldn't really work so we decided on a safe.


There will be no spinning or dancing in our music video.

Shots of Potential Performers

Hello.




That's me by my main man Winston x

Costume/Setting/Props/Location

Seeing as I am not actually in 'The Jewelers' as I will be filming the music video I won't be able to take pictures of the costumes the band will be wearing so I will just have to use Google.

Costume

As a big part of our video is a diamond heist we will be conforming slightly to the stereotypical bank robber type costume, e.g.:

First picture that comes up when you
Google 'diamond robber'

Indie bands have a casual style

However, the other half of our video is performance based and seeing as our band are a predominantly indie rock band we will also be conforming to those genre stereotypes which means basically just casual clothing. This means the performers in our video will have two costume changes, one more of a bank robber style and one more of an indie bands style. As our video has a black and white theme to it the costumes will also be these colours to tie the video together. I will leave the more in depth information on costume to the actual band members who have been posting the actual costumes they own.

Props

The props needed for the performance part

The props in our video are very important for both the performance and the narrative part so lets start with the performance part. The main props for this are the instruments for the band. We will be using a drum kit, and two electric guitars as well as a microphone for this. Leytonstone school have said we can borrow their equipment for this but if for some reason that doesn't work I have an electric guitar and the other group members also have the instruments needed so that shouldn't be a problem.

For the other part of our video which is based around the diamond heist the props are a little more complicated. It is based around diamond imagery and a heist so our props ideally are going to be: diamond playing cards, blue prints, diamonds, crushed ice, a safe, the big fake diamond, a red cushion and, although it remains a grey area, possibly some kind of balaclava/mask.

Props

Setting/Location
Like I said here our location and setting of most of the scenes will be in Leytonstone school. The other more random shots like the blue print and card shots will be done in a location that isn't important as the location won't be featured.

Audience Task - Finding a Target Audience Member

So I met up with my good friend David Lynn and I asked him if i could ask him a few questions. He was happy to do that so here's what David had to say:

I've typed up the Q&A incase anyone has any ear troubles:

Name & Location: David Lynn, London
Age: 17
Where he's from: England
Gender & Ethnicity: White Male
What he does for a living: Student
Where he shops: At the shops
What he does in his spare time: Listens to the Arctic Monkeys
What newspaper/Magazine he reads: The Bible and the London Metro
What mode of transport he uses: The Tube
What gadgets he uses: The iPhone and iPod
What his favourite brands are: Ralph Lauren/Diesel/Levi's/Ray Bans
Where he buys his clothes: Topman & Burberry
What his favourite drink is: Water
Favourite holiday destination: Bahamas & Kent
Why he likes the Arctic Monkeys: He says they're like his family. Their music moves him and he thinks Alex Turner is cool.

Brief Account of Synergy In 3 Productions

Music Video

In our music video, the diamond synergy will appear through:

• The song name
• Our clothing
• The playing cards
• The diamond (That we will be stealing)
• Crushed ice (possibly)

Digipak 

We havnt made a digipak yet so I've just made a rough copy for a CD cover that The Jewellers might possibly use:

I used the theme from the narrative that the group probably would be wanted because they stole the diamond, so I made them wanted. I also continued the diamond theme and put the diamond logo on a pack of cards over their fingerprints. Then, for the mugshots, i put ripped up pictures of the King, Queen and Ace of cards over instead.

Looks dandy


Trailer

We haven't made one yet, alas

Location #1 - Leytonstone School

The first problem we faced with our idea for a diamond heist was the location. We couldn't rob a real bank as that's quite a bit of effort so we decided we would need an empty dark studio/room type place. We originally had wanted to film in the drama room at City and Islington college but due to department wars we were informed this was not possible. Dejected but determined we soldiered on searching for any type of room where we would be able to film and fit in all the instruments, when finally the answer became clear:

Leytonstone School

Leytonstone school is one of the best schools on Colworth Road and they have a drama room just like the one in City and Islington only its more black and doesn't have a mirror. The school is also located just 2 minutes from my house so it was kind of ideal. Me and Ellie went up to the school on Thursday to get permission from our old teachers. They said yes and now we can film there, hooray

It looks a bit like that.

As a bonus they also agreed to let us use the instruments from their music department which is in the room next door so no lugging heavy instruments around and less risks. There are no pictures online of the drama room so instead I will leave you with the Leytonstone school motto:

"Be brilliant and shine."

Detailed Accounts of Things

Costume:

After doing a lot of research into robbery's and heists, we decided it would make sense for us all (who are performing in the video) to wear black, as that it was most professionals seem to wear. We all have dark clothing and this would add a layer of realistic styling to our music video. I have also noticed most of the professionals wear masks or balaclavas. If I can't find a balaclava I will definitely wear a mask as it would make sense in our narrative. The black will also work well with the dark lighting and fully emphasises the lighting in our shots which I think, if done right, will be really effective.
I own a hoodie that says 'DMND' which is an American company which produces clothing and their logo is a diamond. Some of our audience may know this brand as it's popular with teenagers and teens are our target audience. This may make us loose out on some subtle humour but for those that don't know it, it would look quite cool.



Props

 I think the red cushion would look very good in the black room which we will be performing the singing scenes in. As we decided as a group, that the diamond would be placed in the background on a cushion, and only be revealed missing in the end, the red would contrast against the black room, the performers wearing black and would allow us to be experimental with the lighting.
The diamond will be an essential in our music video as it is the main point of our narrative. As we are performing a diamond heist we will be featuring the diamond (possibly) 

• Removing it from the safe
• On the cushion

We will be filming all the groups ideas for possible endings and deciding as a group what we think works best for the strongest narrative, especially involving the diamond.

The masks will (possibly) be worn by the performers when singing and stealing the diamond as it would make sense artistically and realistically to cover our faces so we wouldnt get recognized and caught. As a group we just need to decide what direction to go in with that or individually (If some want to wear balaclavas)

The deck of cards will be featured throughout the music video as subtle hints of our branding. We will emphasise and (possibly) only feature the diamond deck as it would link to our band and the synergy. We will be playing a card game over the Blueprint of the 'place we're going to steal' which would be double artistic. We would also have some artistic shots of a burning card which would look very cool and suggest time running out, also our danger. And as we leave either the safe or the cushion we will leave a card in it's place to leave with our trademark.

The crushed ice would link to our cards as they resemble small diamonds and would look very nice in black and white, artistic shots. 

The instruments are a necessity for us an indie band. As we switch to and from our narrative we will have 'The Jewellers' playing with the guitar, bass and drums.

Setting

We have chosen to set our Music Video at Leytonstone School. We chose this because we had a history with the building (2/4 went there) and are very familiar with the teachers.

Myself and Maria contacted a teacher to ask if we could visit and pitch them our idea in hopes they would let us film. They agreed and whilst we were there we found that we could also use and film the school safe.

Another big reason we chose Lstone was because they had a drama room entirely black with a music room with instruments next door. This meant we could film our singing in the black room and use the school instruments without carrying instruments across town.

The school is also close to 2/4 of our houses so if we start editing and find that some shots need to be re done it wouldn't be as hard to re shoot.

Pitch Reaction & Feedback

With the classic sounds of Gustav Holst - The Planets, Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity as our soundtrack and several hundred PowerPoint animations to guide us, Group 10 successfully pitched their idea for their Diamonds Are Forever music video to the class.

It was a little nerve wracking up there but our visual and audio aides seemed to entertain the class and no concerns were raised from anyone. We did not receive much feedback from our teacher except that it all sounded good and we should go ahead and make it, which was positive and helpful so that will be the next step.

I was in charge of presenting the slides explaining our song choice, setting, industry and the animatic I made. I tried to take note from various inspirational speakers and use my voice and message to provoke social change, obviously. At first it seemed no one had remembered to record or take any pictures of the pitch which would have been disappointing as then this post would have no ICT. Luckily I found some pictures from the pitch to post here:

Mood Board / Brand Image

(Clockwise from top left) - Diamonds signify the diamond imagery we will have and the synergy we will use from it / The diamond playing cards will feature as part of the diamond imagery / The CCTV effect will be used as an effect to emphasise the heist and crime effect / The Safe will feature in the video as a prop and make the heist more realistic / The cool gang of teenagers is a representation of our target audience / The two pictures of the Arctic Monkeys  are there to show who we are basing The Jewelers on and the song we've chosen to cover / The blueprint will be used as a prop to emphasise the heist / Dame Shirley Bassey sung the original song we are covering / Leytonstone School will be where our video is taking place / The masks are there because we will be covering our faces, I'm just not sure what with as of yet / The Diamond Clothing (DMND) represents the black clothing we will be wearing and possibly that, because it's ironic.

Examining a Website for the Original Artist

Hey There

Hey there, 

Don't be fooled by the man's voice, this is my overview of the Arctic Monkeys website, and how their layout is promoting their album, the colours, and the logo.

Enjoy

Costumes

Below are the costumes to be worn by everybody in the band in the video

Steven

Heist (Without Mask)

Performance

Saint or Syner-gy? - The Jewelers

The Jewelers are going to be a basic band, doing what everybody else does because that's what we gotta do, and that means we're going to be using synergy in a very obvious way, using one universal symbol that helps get our product across and helps to sell it to people. The thing we are going to be using is diamonds, through the song (DIAMONDS are Forever), our band name (The JEWELERS) and also the album (Sparkle Sparkle).

These all combine perfectly into one super shiny, extravagant thrill ride of synergy, with various others included.

These include:

• Black and white
• Casual clothing
• Emphasis on the performance aspect
• Heists
• Black clothing for heist

These will be visible in the music video, digipack and the adverts we create for the product, which will all be clearly related to eachother due to the excellent use of synergy, way to go!

Three Music Video Influences

The three music videos that have influenced and inspired us with our own video are:

1) Diamonds - Rihanna



Although the narrative is completely different to ours, this video captures the imagery of diamonds that we want to have in ours.
Specific Diamond Imagery



In these shots you can see the focus of the close up is set on the diamonds.
We can try and re create this with crushed ice and add a slow motion effect like Rihanna did with hers.

She also kept the diamond imagery shots in black and white, probably to emphasise the diamonds; that's something we could think about in editing.







2) Just A Little - Liberty X




Although there is no diamond imagery in this music video, the narrative is a diamond hiest which is exactly what we want to do. Because this is a pop band, the video is a lot more glamorising and they dance in the bank.. which we definitely aren't doing, but the story is still there.

Specific Heist Imagery

In these shots we're doing a lot of what they're doing. For example we plan on printing a fake a blueprint of a 'building' which would emphasise our 'planning' phase in the narrative.


We are also going to use a safe to make the heist more realistic. We can't find or use a safe that size << but we have obtained a large safe which we are allowed to use with supervision.


Finally, in this shot of physically taking the diamond, we have a pretty big fake diamond which we will have in the video, but we aren't going to pick it up, just have it vanish.





3) The Reason - Hoobastank



This video has the same kind of narrative as the Liberty X video, this narrative also has a diamond heist, though on a much smaller scale and much less dramatic & glamorising.

Specific Heist Imagery

In this shot you can see the CCTV footage of the character walking through the shop, we want to use that effect whilst the band is performing in the dark room to give the video more of a 'crime' vibe

In this shot the diamond is revealed. We wont do that because our diamond reveal is going to be more subtle



This red diamond effect is cool, but we haven't spoken about having an effect like that.