Roles Within the Group

 

Director.
Sofie- as the more vocal of the group, we decided that she should be chosen to give out instructions during filming. We all collectively decided what would be happening throughout filming, as this was displayed on our storyboard, we decided it would be much easier if one person delegated the jobs so that there were not countless arguments.

Camera operator.
Sofie, Chloe and I- we are all going to take part in the filming. Chloe and Sofie will be doing the filming for the narrative sections However when we film Billy Lockett, I will be operating the camera.

 

Producer.
Sofie, Chloe and I- we have all individually and collectively had ideas for our music video and have an equal share in the decision making.

Editor.
Chloe- Sofie and I will be inputting throughout the editing process, however we decided as a group that it would be much more complex than necessary if we all attempted to edit sections of the music video, as we each have a different ways of approaching the editing tools. We felt that if one person did the operating and the other two chipped in, it would make our lives much easier and therefore creating a more successful music video.

Creative Director.
Sofie and I- Chloe will definitely have a big input in the creative side of things as we are all having an equal share of roles, but because Chloe was delegated to main editor, Sofie and I felt it would be good if we wrote down what we wanted each part of each scene to look like creatively, so the music video would be done to the best of our collective creative ability.

IMR

 

What is IMR?

In film theory, the Institutional Mode of Representation (IMR) is the dominant mode of film construction. This style was developed after the turn of the century and became the norm, most notably for Classical Hollywood Cinema, in about 1914.
The IMR is characterised by the attempt to create a fictional world on screen that the audience can become completely imaginatively involved in, instead of feeling separate. This is created by using close ups, these are something that were never used in the Primitive Mode which was the used for early cinema. A three dimensional space is created as well as new cinematic techniques such as lighting and editing to preserve the illusion of spatial integrity that is lost with close ups.
The close ups make the characters psychologically individuated therefore the audience interpret the motivations of characters and involve themselves in the films.

How does this relate to our music video?

IMR, in theory, is relevant to our music video, especially for the narrative section, as we are telling a story through a fictional world. We are using two main characters to create a fictional world for the audience in which they feel they can relate to the situation and feel somewhat involved. This is going to be relatable for our audience due to the close ups and 'untold' sections of the story, with which the audience can place themselves into the story and interpret it for themselves. We need to take into consideration the relationship and empathy we want to create for the audience when we are filming and editing the music video.

Recce

We completed a RECCE today in order to see if all of our locations were suitable for filming. Although all locations are what we wanted them to be and will be highly suited for our music video, as we won't be filming till late Autumn/Winter, due to the setting that we want, we are going to have an issue with daylight.

For our music video we wanted a autumn/wintery scene as it is a common association with happy couples and matches the theme of the song, however this does mean that we will have to film in the middle of the day due to lack of sunlight. This doesn't appear a problem on its own, nonetheless our male actor is only available after 2 o'clock until 5 o'clock- which means that our filming is going to have to be thoroughly pre-planned and set up prior to the arrival of the talent, in order to make the most of the sunlight without prolonging filming over numerous days.

Here are the locations for our music video;

Wicksteed Park: where we will be filming the field scene, the talent are going to be walking the dog whilst 'getting to know each other'

The Sorrels: we will be using this to film the scenes inside the house after the couple have just moved in to their shared home. This first picture shows the left hand corner when the talent will be sitting, and where you can see the edge of the ironing board in the picture, is where there will be some minimal belongings that the couple share

This is just a different angle of the room we will be using, as we will film multiple angles. We will use this angle to see the male lead gazing out the window thinking of the life he wished they could afford to live

The Donkey: the pub in which Billy Lockett will be performing. We chose this location to visit as it is quite a 'normal' and relaxed setting which conveys the idea of the song and reflects the fact that he is an Indie artist

The Lilacs: where we will be filming the bar scene when the couple first meet. We chose this location for the first meet of the couple due to the fact that it is a typical place for young people to meet and conveys the normality, allowing the audience to relate to the 'story' we are aiming to tell, making it believable

The Sorrels Street: this is the street that we are going to have the male lead walking down at the beginning and end of the music video in order to show that he is taking the audience on a journey. We have chosen to start and end in this way as it reflects a 'complete story'

Storyboard First Draft

Our Song Lyrics

I'm not a wild man
And I'm not a crazy guy
But I know I'm genuine
So sit and watch I'll tell you why
And I'm not a superhero
And I'm not a movie star
But when you're around
I make you feel like you are
Like you are

So let's go to the attic
Let's go to the shops
Let's grab the old red carpet
Wear the dress with polka dots
And pretend that we're stars
walking down Leicester Square
Or actors in a movie
On a secret love affair
Love affair

So stick by me and I'll tell you
There's light at the end
Stick by me and I'll show you
That all you need is a friend
So don't balance out the window
And smirk with your eyes
Don't balance on a spindle
And smile when you know I'm uptight

We're sitting in this empty room
With no furniture
And the money's running low
And the future is a blur
And I know it won't be easy
But please just wait and see
One day we'll be where we want to be
Want to be

So stick by me and I'll tell you
There's light at the end
Stick by me and I'll show you
That all you need is a friend
So don't balance out the window
And smirk with your eyes
Don't balance on a spindle
And smile when you know I'm uptight

Take my hand
And spin me around
Dance like a fool
Dance, dance around
Take my hand
And spin me around
Dance like a fool
Dance, dance around
Take my hand and spin me around
And dance like a fool
Dance, dance around

So stick by me and I'll tell you
There's light at the end
Stick by me and I'll show you
That all you need is a friend
So don't balance out the window
And smirk with your eyes
Don't balance on a spindle
And smile when you know I'm uptight

The lyrics have been the basis of most of our ideas, when unsure of what should come next initially in the planning of our music video we used the lyrics to link with the visuals on screen. This is something that Andrew Goodwin lists in his method of analysis music videos and something we all viewed as important. The lyrics to the song had to relate to the story/narrative in the video otherwise you leave the target audience confused and unsure of what is happening.

Call Sheet

Crew:

Alice Spencer

Chloe Flynn

Sofie Helps

Actors:

Alex York in the role of the main boy

Tamsen Zeigler in the role of the main female

Billy Lockett as himself

Tilly as herself as the dog

Locations:

The Donkey filming Billy Lockett live

The Lilacs filming the bar scene when they first meet

The Sorrels filming the street scene, house scene(s) and car scene

Wicksteed Park filming the field scene

Schedule:

Thursday 1st November The Donkey, Billy Lockett, live scene, 1 hour

Tuesday 20th November The Sorrels, Alex York and Tamsen Zeigler, street scene and house scene, 3 hours

Tuesday 27th November Wicksteed Park, Alex York, Tamsen Zeigler and Tilly, field scene, 2 hours

Live Footage

After speaking with the artist over email and facebook, we finally organised a date to film the live footage section of our music video. We attended one of his tour dates, and the location was 'The Donkey' in Leicester, where we spoke directly with Billy Lockett and his manager to ensure that it was still okay for us to film from the front of the stage.

We faced a few problems, such as poor lighting quality, however this can easily be altered on the editing software we are going to use. Another issue was getting still photographs of the performance for us to use on the website and digipak; we could not use the flash on the cameras as this would interfere with the filming, and the viewing for the rest of the audience. However, one of the group members had a photo ediding app on their iPhone which could be used to brighten the photos, so they are now usable.  



Influential Album Covers

Ideology

We share common values, judgements and beliefs depending on what culture we are part of. These are a system of meanings that help us define the world, and the expectations of individuals and groups of people within it. For example, some common ideologies include:


'A Woman's place is in the home'

'Education is important'

'Boys will be boys'

There are ideologies within media texts, which lead to 'norms' - these idea are not questioned, they are simply accepted as being correct. This could be problematic, as when a media text challenges these 'normal' conventions they may be criticised as they will unsettle the reader.

Social interactions and institutions are resresented within the media on a daily basis, and because they are repeated so regularly they help to shape the norms of society.

We need to consider the concept of ideology throughout the filming and editing stages of our music video; we need to be aware of how males and females are represented, the range of lifestyles and behaviours we are portraying, and ensure we are not conveying judgements about anything which is not appropriate for the target audience (for example smoking, alcohol, drug use etc).

Talent, Props & Location

Our plan is to have two 'sections' to the video - a live recording for the chorus, and an acted story for the verses. Therefore, we need to organise actors, decide on locations and gather props. 

Actors

We require a male and a female actor, to play the roles of a couple who tell the story of the song. 
The male we are using is called Alex, a good friend of the group, as we believe he will be the most reliable person to use. Also, he is 17 years old, and has interests in music and fashion - so this means he mirrors the target audience and allows a character to be created that people can relate to, giving the music video a personal feel. 
Because of the 'couple' nature of the music video, we struggled to find a pair to use who we felt would be reliable enough. We therefore decided to use a girl called Tamsen, who is a good friend of  the male actor, as this will result in comfortable, relaxed filming and reliable talent.
The live chorus talent is the actual artist, Billy Lockett. 

Costume

With relation to the target audience of indie teenagers, we need the costume to be relatively 'fashionable and unique'. However, the semantics of the song involve the characters being quite poor, as they cannot afford their own furniture. We, therefore, have decided upon various costumes (for different scenes) to reflect these concepts; 
Empty room scenes -
Male : checkered top, chino trousers, dirty socks
Female : jumpsuit, tights, old looking cardigan, relaxed hair
Street scenes - 
Male : chino trousers, black coat
Female : jeans, coat
Bar scene - 
Male : suit jacket & trousers
Female : dress, more formal hair

Props

There are not many props that we need to consider, however a couple will be very important. Firstly, the male actor needs a guitar for walking down the street, and sitting in the room. Also, we wanted to use a small dog, to represent the couple in day-to-day activities. The mise-en-scene should reflect the song, for example an empty room with few belongings.

Location

This is possibly the most difficult factor to consider - we want the mise-en-scene to look believable, but, for example, gaining access to a 'derelict' house is improbable. We have therefore decided upon using my own spare room for the 'empty house' scene, as it contains no furniture, and looks out onto an empty field. For the bar scene, we plan on using a local village pub, as it is a common place for young people to meet and is coherent with the song. The majority of other scenes will be filmed on the street outside the house, or at the local park, Wicksteed, as it is a picturesque location where many couples choose to visit.  

Website

As the second subsidary task, we have decided to create a website for the artist. This is because it will allow us to be very creative, as well as combining multiple forms of media such as videos and images. Our music video can be uploaded to the website so fans can view it, and it will also contain a blog of updates 'directly from the artist'.

We are using a website creater called 'Wix' as it provides the most versatile templates - we were able to delete everything and begin with a completely blank screen. We have tried to stick with the colour schemes relating to the artist (black and pink) and stuck with a simple layout which looks sophisticated and organised.

Here are examples of our first drafts for the website: