First Draft Music Promo

Editing

It's taken a lot of time to edit my music promo to a higher standard. I have been editing my video everyday this week and it is still not 100%, so editing is definitely a lot harder than I thought it would be. There are certain aspects of my music promo that I have struggled to edit, for example I have found it hard to include my main character singing along to the song as I only filmed a few clips of him doing this in my second location. This was definitely a mistake, as I have not been able to include him singing in my first draft because having him singing in a different location to the skate park at the beginning of the music promo doesn't look effective. I also found it hard to include my male character lip sinking at the end of my music promo as the lyrics that he sung don't match up to the end of the song. Therefore, for my second music promo draft I need to re shoot my male character singing so that I can include this throughout my music promo.
I am really happy with some aspects of my music promo, I like the different use of camera angles which I used when filming and found this really helped me when it came to editing and making my music promo look more interesting. For this first draft I have not used many effects or editing techniques, instead I have focused more on where I will cut things and which order I want things to be in my music promo. For my second draft I am planning on playing around with the effects so that I can work out what looks best and what suits the mes en scene of my music promo. However, I am not planning on changing this in a drastic way as I am happy with the warm colours that feature in my music promo as they connote romance and I think they work well with the lyrics.
I have tried to use a variation of fast and slow cuts throughout my music promo, to give it more of a variation and make it look as effective as possible. I have also used slow motion as well as speeding certain footage up, I found this can look quite professional when done subtly however I want to keep things quite simple when it comes to editing as my music promo could easily look overdone.

Third day of filming

On Wednesday, I planned on filming my two main characters (male and female) walking from the skate park to my second location the IQ Business park in Farnborough. I wanted to include this location because it has really impressive architecture and I thought it would look effective in my music promo because it is very well lit. I carefully thought about how this location could work with the narrative of my storyboard, and decided it would probably work best if only the main male and female characters were in this location. This is similar to how I planned my music promo in my storyboard, however I have altered it slightly by making my male character chase after the female character in order to speed up the walking process to the new location. I think this is more effective in my music promo as it makes my female character look more mysterious. As well as this it also makes it more obvious that the male character in my music promo clearly wants to be with the female character, as I have filmed the female walking away and the male chasing after her on his skates. I think this small change to my storyboard should work well within my narrative and hopefully when it comes to editing the story will be easy to understand.
Once I had filmed that, I then focused on my male character as he had not done any singing in the previous days I had filmed. I think filming in the Business park worked well, as there were only the two characters in the location which made the scenes more intimate. When it comes to editing, I may find that I need more singing nearer the beginning of my music promo, but I am happy to reshoot that in my second draft. In reflection, it would have been a good idea to film the two characters together as a couple, as this would add to the story of my music promo. For my second draft I will reshoot and focus more on making the story of my music promo more obvious by filming the couple together, as it is quite limited at the moment.

Second day of filming

On Tuesday night I filmed my male characters rollerblading in the Skate park. I'm glad that I chose this day to film  as the weather was perfect for it, I'm really happy with the footage I've got and I think I will be able to use quite a lot of it in my first draft. I will go through all the footage of skating that I have and decide what works well in my music promo, or if I need to reshoot. I have quite a lot of time between handing in my first and second draft of my music promo, so if need be I will be able to reshoot certain aspects of my music promo. I have thought about reshooting some skating as I was only able to film two males skating and in order to make my music promo look more professional it may be a good idea to include more skaters throughout the video.
I am happy with the different camera angles that I used, as it has given me a good range of shots for my music promo. I tried to vary them as much as I could when it came to filming my male characters skating as I think it helps make the scenes look more dramatic. I used a Stabilizing handle when filming certain aspects, as this allowed me to film my characters at a low angle while they were skating, allowing me to focus on their blades. Strapping my camera to a stabilizing handle was really helpful, as it allowed my filming to flow and be fluid as it was easy to move the camera around and follow my characters while they were skating. Although I am not the best Roller blader in the world, it was important that I skated behind my characters in parts as this gave my footage more movement. This would not have looked as effective if I'd of just held the camera, as it would have been filmed from a higher angle and would have been very gerky and looked unprofessional.

Cast signatures agreeing to be in my music promo

My first attempt at filming

On Monday 15th I filmed close ups in the skate park of my male character, as well as using the tripod to film shots of myself (the female character). Before we started filming, I made sure that my male character was dressed appropriately as it is important that he fits in with the genre of the music. I carefully thought about this over the weekend so that my character was prepared and knew what to wear on the day. I didn't want him to look too dressed up, as a formal outfit would not suit the location. So I asked him to wear black skinny jeans as they are typically what teenage boys wear, as well a burgundy button up shirt. I think the shirt could be seen as too formal if it was in a different colour, but I chose it because I felt burgundy suited the dark tones that will feature in my music promo, as I am filming it at night. I thought a dark colour such as this would allow my character to fit in with the different scenes, instead of looking out of place. Another reason I thought a dark red would be a good colour to wear, would be because the colour connotes love and lust which links in with my chosen song "Heartbreaker".
We started filming with the opening scene of my storyboard, I adapted this to the location by using a spotlight in the skate park as my starting point instead of using the stars. I did this because the stars were hard to make out, and the lights were much brighter and therefore looked more effective on screen. I have found that making small changed such as this have actually worked to my advantage, as I have been using my storyboard as a starting point instead of sticking to it. I think this is a positive thing, as it allows me to tweak and improve my storyboard whenever I need to when filming.

Mrs D

The 2 draft of the storyboard is much better. Well done. More shot variation. The start is better and the pace is good. I would use a slower fade at the end though and why do you have a CU of the skates and of the hands when it says ‘Mind’? Have a look at when you are using CU and link to the lyrics. Also half way through it looks like you have just looped the images rather than thought about the message they give when joined with the lyrics. Be aware of this when constructing.

Branding my artist

It's important that my music promo links in with my artist, and helps to promote them as a brand. As well as this I have thought carefully about my target audience when planning my music promo, to ensure that my video suits young adults from the age of 15-25. I think by choosing the location of a skate park, I am attracting my target audience as many young adults recognise skating as an alternative sport, which then links in with the alternative style of music in my chosen song. There are many existing music promos that are filmed in skate parks, or include skating of some sort. This shows that skating can be linked in with the artist as it portrays my artist as young and hip, helping to promote them as a brand.

Changes to filming schedule

I was unable to make a start on my filming yesterday due to the weather, as I'm not able to film rollerblading or skating when it is raining or if it is wet on the ground. This could be a dilemma when it comes to filming, if the weather is wet for the rest of the week then I may not be able to get all the shots that I want. I have looked at the weather forecast so that I can plan what day is best to film skating. Hopefully, the weather will improve and I will be able to film my male characters rollerblading tomorrow night, as it is due to rain tonight. I am making the rollerblading and skating parts of my music promo my main priority when it comes to filming, to ensure that I get the right shots. I am able to film close ups of the female and male character no matter what the weather is like, so I am planning on filming close ups of my characters tonight. I want to make a start on this now as it will give me a clearer idea of how I want things to look, in terms of what works best in my music promo.

Storyboard - Moving image second draft

I have made some changes to my storyboard as I thought I needed to improve it, the main thing that needed work was the beginning of my storyboard as I was unsure what to show in the first 20 seconds of my music promo because this part of the song includes no lyrics. I have thought about what would work best for this section of my music promo, and decided to include flashbacks of the couple being happy together at the beginning of my music promo. I think this would be effective, as it works well with the lyrics of my chosen song as the memories could represent what my male character misses and why he is so upet about losing the female character.

Calender

Mrs D

Well done for hitting your second deadline. The planning looks good. Your storyboard has some ideas. The first shot is too long - go back to your RMAs and see how the introduction works when there isn't any singing. You also need to think carefully about how you will use your filming at the skating park. The filming is good, but make sure you have a clear idea how it brands your artist and how it fits with the narrative of song.

Mes en Scene

It's important that my characters dress appropriately in my music promo, as they need to suit the style of music. I therefore need my characters to wear indie style clothes, this could be seen as quite a general term so to make my characters outfits more precise I want them to wear appropriate clothes for skating. This will then ensure that they do not look out of place in the skatepark, as that is my main location for my music promo.
When it comes to the female character, I also want her to suit the style of music and the location, so I want her to wear quite tomboyish clothes, including trainers and a hoodie or denim jacket. This way she will fit in with the male characters of my music promo, this will then make my storyline more convincing as the male and female characters will dress and look alike, making them more likely to suit as a couple.

Font styles

Storyboard - Moving image first draft

Casting

For my music promo, my main character will be a male as the artist singing in my music promo is male. As well as this, I have also included other characters which will act as his friends in the music promo. As they only have a small part in the music promo, there gender is not important but they will probably be mostly males as this fits in well with the main focus of skating or roller blading which will partake in my music promo.I plan to only include 2 or 3 male characters in the background. I also need a female character in my music promo, as my chosen song is called "Heartbreaker" and I want to show the woman in small cuts throughout the music promo to make her look more mysterious. I have found it difficult to find a female friend that is willing to be in my music promo, so I am willing to play the part myself.

I have emailed the people that I want to feature in my music video asking them if they would like to take part.
My email said:
"Hello, I'm making a music video for my media coursework and was wondering if you would be able to be one of my characters in it. I am planning on filming my video in a skate park and would like you to bring your blades/bike/board. I would like you to play the part of ____________, really hope that you're up for it as I think you would work really well in my music video and it should be fun filming it! Get back to me as soon as you can please, thank you!"
Main character - Robert Dobbie
Friends in background - Bruce Dobbie, Aaron Hunt, Matt Wyatt.
Female Character - Me (Olivia McCulloch)

Storyboard second draft

After looking into more detail when it comes to the location of my music promo, I have decided to alter my music video slightly. As I needed to include the male and female characters walking to a new location half way through, to show the journey from the skate park to the business park. As well as this I have slightly altered the ending, so that the male character is the main focus of the music video. I find this is more effective, as the lyrics of the song are from a males point of view so it links in with this.

Location

Location for my music promo on Prezi

Ideas for Magazine Advert

Overall, I prefer the first and last drafts of my magazine advert, I think these two will be my preferred choice when it comes to constructing my magazine advert as they look more professional.I also asked ten people that fall into my target audience what they think of these layouts, and the most popular choice was the last draft. I will keep this in consideration when it comes to making my final advert, as I want it to attract the right audience.

Ideas for DigiPak

I chose to make three different Digipak when planning what I want it to look like, this way I know which style looks most effective. I have changed the colours slightly on all three of my DigiPaks, as well as changing  what text I want on each individual page as a way of knowing what works best. I am happy with how my first draft looks, particularly with my choice of colours as I think the dark reds would work well with my target audience, as they give the DigiPak a more mature theme. This is important, as I don't want my DigiPak  to look too childish as I need to ensure that I am targeting young adults as well as teenagers. 

This is my second option for my DigiPak, I am not as keen on the colour scheme of this DigiPak as I think it looks too young and girly. However, I prefer the way I have laid out the text on this DigiPak, as it includes all the factors that were popular with my target audience from my questionnaire. I like the fact that this DigiPak is also slightly different to the norm, as the back of my DigiPak features the lyrics of the track with the tracklist. I think this works well as typically you would look at the back of the album to see the track name, so the lyrics link in well with this. I plan on keeping all the features of my DigiPak similar to this design in terms of keeping my message to the audience on the inside leaflet, with a fan-mail address along side it. I like that these two features fit in well together and make the artist seem more involved with their audience. 

This is my final plan for where I want the features of my DigiPak to be placed. As well as planning what images I want on which page. I am happy with how this is laid out, as all of my features link in well with each other and I think this helps my Digipak flow for my audience, as it is easier to read when it all fits in together like this. 

Final ideas for my DigiPak I am happy with the dark red colours that I have chosen to include as they suit my target audience, I tried to ensure that each page in my DigiPak is different as this way it is more interesting for the audience. Obviously, this is not my final draft for my DigiPak as there are still things I am unsure about. For example, I am not very keen on the framework I have included, but I felt the page needed something extra to make is more interesting. However, I do like the fact that I have used a squirl over my CD itself, as I think this is quite different and could make my album more memorable so this is something I may consider when starting my construction. 

Colour scheme

I need to ensure that the colours I use in my DigiPak and Advert are similar so that the artist has more of a brand identity which my target audience will be able to register. This is important as it will help to make my artist more noticed, which will help to promote both the digipak and advert.
The colour scheme that I use is therefore very important, as it will feature in all types of my artists work. I need to make sure that the colours I use suit my target audience, as I am aiming this work at young adults between the ages of 15-25. It is essential that I use colours that suit both genders, as I my target audience is not gender specific.
I am therefore planning on using prime colours, such as blues or reds. As I think these colours would be the most effective. In my research I asked which colours my audience think an indie record would suit. Blue, red, grey and black were the most popular choices for this so I plan on including grey and black in both my Magazine advert and my Digipak as these dark colours will go well with the main colour of either Red or Blue.

Storyboard first draft

Ideas for storyboard

Remember when I caught your eye – Camera pans down from sky to human eye  
you gave me rainbows and butterflies – camera zooms out to show face and location of skate park
we did enjoy our happiness – camera pans to follow male character who goes up a ramp
when our love was over I was such a mess – character falls from doing a trick
I smiled at you and you smiled back – close up of girl smiling at character
that's when I knew there’s no turning back – close up of male smiling back
you said you loved me and I did too – close up of skating
now that it's over I still love you – camera pans shows trick
you're in my mind you're in my heart –different characters come into shot
I wish I knew right from the start – camera zooms out to show other tricks
all my friends said you break my heart – medium close up of characters “friends”
A heartbreaker right from the start – close up of woman
I tried to fight it I tried so hard and every day – camera cuts, becomes more fast paced of skating
I pray to god that you and me were meant to be – fast cuts of skating
but you had another you had a lover – holding hands
And now you’re gone I don't know why – close up of woman details of hair
I feel like crying just want to die – more close ups of woman details of lips
I can't look at you and you know why – close up of women’s eyes
though, I tried so hard to catch your eye – close up of male characters eyelashes
you're in my mind you're in my heart – close up of male characters face
I wish I knew right from the start – male character skating
all my friends said you break my heart – other characters skating alongside him
A heartbreaker right from the start – profile of female character
you're in my mind you're in my heart – male character stops skating
 I wish I knew right from the start – close up of male sitting down
all my friends said you break my heart – friends sit down with male character
A heartbreaker right from the start – close up of female smiling, camera pans back up to the sky