Rough Cut 2 - Performance and Narrative

Here is our 2nd full rough cut, however this includes both narrative and performance. Edited on iMovie by George and all filmed on a Nikon D300s.

TW - Magazine Ad Analysis 1 - Artic Monkeys - Humbug Ad

I have chosen to analyze this advert as it is by The Artic Monkeys, which

 is one of the bands that George and I have taken influence from, with 

George even analyzing one of their digipak's for our research.

The band is very much alternative rock, with a hint of indie and other genres. It would be fair to say that rock is the wider aspect of their music, but when narrowed down 

it does fall into the alternative category. This particular advertisement has

 been featured across Europe for their album Humbug, and was created 

by DebutArt.

As you can see, the advert is quite bold and vivid in it's colour scene, 

although it does have a washed type feature to it which causes it to lose 

some of the vibrance and make the colours seem less eccentric.
The background is orange, and is fading from top to bottom. This is met 

by the colours of the words used on the ad, as 'Humbug', is most clear in 

colour, whilst '24 August 2009' is faded and is closer matched to the colour

 of the background, due to the fade effect.
The middle of the ad shows a band logo, possibly used exclusively for this 

album, and has the band name stenciled into the middle. The logo appears 

to be 2 faces, back to back, joined by what could be their hair, or a 

representation of collaborative minds in relation to creating the album.

The fact that the band name is used in a stencil effect, attracts attention to both the logo and the band name 

immediately, causing the reader to read the rest of the info, which is only small pieces of information, likely to 

remain in the audience's mind so they remember the advert and the info easily.

Whilst this magazine ad is fairly simple, it does the job and could be modeled or replicated if we chose to complete

 2 magazine ads, this being used as influence on the more simple of the 2 ads we would create.

GG - Magazine Ad Analysis 2 - Biffy Clyro

I have chosen to analyse a magazine ad for 'Biffy Clyro'. His music is of an alternative rock genre and he has had many big hit songs. The genre, 'alternative' is a worldwide genre meaning the ad needs to attract to a large audience.

As you can see this ad is very basic, it lacks some of the main codes and conventions I have recently blogged about. However, it is very powerful in the way it uses the bold colour blue which is the prominent colour. This colour could signify calmness however the image reflects on a more viscous aspect, relating to the alternative rock genre.

Your eyes are instantly attracted to the text 'Biffy Clyro' through the use of a different colour in comparison to the rest of the texts. This is used well to promote his new album through when people are flicking through the magazine, the name of the artist is obvious. The realise date is clear through the use of a bold and large text, this is also used to promote the album name.

Although the magazine ad is fairly simple, we could use it when making our second design for another magazine genre pacific. Because the imagery and text doesn't fully emphasis's the genre of the band.

GG - Magazine Ad Analysis 3 - Mumford & Sons

My second deconstruction of a magazine ad is for the band 'Mumford & Sons'. The band are seen to have a country/indie genre, this close to the song we have chosen.

Instantly we can see a difference to my previous post of 'Biffy Clyro' through the use of colour. The main background colour 'black' is less bold and signifies darkness and misery, this is a opposite to my previous deconstruction. However, the colours of the four images provide much more attention, they draw your eyes too the ad. They have an old/blurred effect on them making them more interesting to look at.

We see the use of bold texts to portray the band/album name at the top of the page. The colour white works well with the background colour making it easy to read. As the texts gets lower down the page it becomes smaller, this could possibly be because it has less meaning.

When creating our final magazine ad we will take ideas from all four of our deconstructions. The basic steps we will follow are; band/album name at the top of page, band image central, text at the bottom (release date, record labels etc...)

Link to band information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumford_and_Sons

TW - Magazine Ad Analysis 4 - Hard Fi

This magazine ad is for Hard Fi's album, entitled Once Upon A Time In 

The West. The album was released almost 5 years ago, therefore is a

 fairly recent advertisement, and will likely use conventions that are still 

true to the alternative genre of advertisements.


This advertisement is especially helpful because it has one central 

drawing point, much like our planned advertisement. The drawing point

 for this particular ad is the use of a commonly used statement on the 

internet when an image is unable to load, except it would simply say 

'Image Not Available'. This is a reflection of the advancement of media 

and technology in our society, especially the use of the internet, where

 that sentence can be found.

Below the simple yet attracting statement, is the band name, album 

title and release date, all in black, which is contrast to the white colour 

of the main sentence. These words are in lower font, and centered, 

similar to the main sentence.

Underneath this they have in a less bold font, a popular track they have

 released as a selling point for people who appreciate their music, and 

further below that, there is a web link to the band's website, integrating other aspects of internet advancements, with 

the production company logo in the bottom right, to make it visible, yet less eye catching than the desired aspects of

 the advertisement.

Storyboard

This is our storyboard for our video, which is what we aim to replicate in terms of how shots are ordered. The narrative has since changed but this was the plan for the original idea. It will be composed into an animatic tomorrow.

TW - New Narrative Plan

(to be filmed on monday 13th Feb)

As we have received critical feedback to our narrative aspect, I have now devised a new story-line that sees the plot 

enhanced. We now plan to use 4 small scenes, not 2 which means obviously there is now more of a story to tell.

The 1st sequence is the couple on a walk, enjoying each others company, there can be fade-type cutting used 

of them walking to being sat on a bench, showing time has elapsed yet still filming in exactly the same frame. 

The couple can also be feeding ducks as this is common around ilkley river, which is a location we are likely to use.

The second sequence will be the couple sat on the sofa, watching TV, in a sped up shot of them just sat there

together in each other's company. The sped up shot allows us to show how much time has gone by with them 

just sat together. This shot will be cross cut with a transparent view of the couple arguing, and the camera circling 

them with fast paced shots. This shows that not everything is ok in the relationship and provides some narrative 

in the sense the audience has doubts about if the relationship will work out.

In the 3rd scenario we see them both moping around, unhappily and the possible use of drinking to connote 

depression, along with the gloomy setting. The male lead will try to call the girl in an attempt to sort things out 

after their fight, but she will read the caller ID and decide to not answer and simply let it ring.

All of the scenarios will begin with the original idea of the male lead looking at the particular scenario in a photo 

album, with the picture leading into the scene. The 4th scene begins like this, in which it gives us another happy

 time with the couple, possibly in a different colour scheme as the other scenarios to show that it was further 

back in the past, before the fight.
The shot will then fade back out into the view of him looking at the photo, and he will then put it in his pocket, 

and slam the photo album shut, possibly even dropping it to the floor with some of the photos dropping out. He 

then runs outside, and the narrative will end with the same shot we used in the rough cut, where the male runs 

up to the girl he was searching for, and it is narrative enigma whether they reconcile or not.

Some feedback to this idea was given by my media teacher, in which he suggested possibly including someone 

taking a photo of the couple, which could be used extremely well in the 4th scenario, as in a reverse of what 

happens previously, when the couple has had their photo taken, it reverts to him looking at that picture, which is 

a different spin on what we were going to do.
He also suggested maybe stamping on some of the images in the photo album, to highlight the male's anger to 

the situation.

GG- The Swing Movement (A brief history)

The band formed in 2004 from the Yorkshire town 'Ilkley'. They are a four piece indie/alternative band with their own distinctive sound of powerful drum beats and strong bass lines. The four members: Ben Walker (Guitar and Vocals), Patrick Wanzala-Ryan (Guitar) , Joe Gamble (Bass) and Kieran Borrett (Drums). 


In there short time of being together the band have managed to play at Leeds Festival, The Cockpit, The Love Apple and many more big venues and festivals, including preforming at a festival in Belgium. They have been signed to Long Island studios in London, who work with such bands as Wild Beasts. Here they created there first album 'Bottom of The Barrel' which they plan to re-record due to the creation of new songs. 'To The Bone' is one of their songs which has been released on itunes and had 100's of purchases in the first week. You can also find them on Spotify. There song 'Jigsaw', which we have selected to use, has been played on Radio1 with one guest saying "this is the best song we have received all week".


They are an up and coming young band who have suffered from the economical fall in the music industry. They are just waiting for the right recorded label to come along and hoping to kick start what should be a very successful career for them all. 

GG - Vodcast of performance footage

Here is a vodcast on the filming and editing of our performance footage of The Swing Movement.

GG - Digipak idea 1

Podcast on Audience feedback/target audience

In this podcast me and Tom take you through our target audience and the feedback gathered together after showing friends our rough cuts.

GG - Music Video has been a success!

Since I shot and edited our first sample scene for our performance footage it has been a big hit. Previous managers and record labels have seen the video and been in contact with the band. This shows the power of youtube, also after receiving over 250 views in a week. The video has also been used to enter the band into a competition to win a chance to support for Graham Coxon on his British tour this April. The video was placed onto his website and you can now vote to give 'The Swing Movement' a chance to perform in Gateshead. It can be seen and done on the following website:
http://toursupport.grahamcoxon.co.uk/share/entry/270

This video is only sample performance footage and we plan to add a love affair narrative to the performance. When all of this is shot we shall give the video to 'The Swing Movement' to help them keep on progressing in the music industry.

The video has been placed below:

GG - Audience Feeback: Preformance footage

After a class viewing of our preformance footage, we had a discussion and looked at all the good and bad aspects of our work. Both me and Tom took notes on what was said:

• Remove the dutch angle that appears in numerus shots, this can be done on final cut.
• Good use of focus adjustment throughout the video, this is done through using a 'Nikon D300's' camera with a lense on it.
• The video was well synced with the audio.
• Too much focus on the lead singer. More shots of other band members.
• More cut away shots of instrument pedals and amps.
• Good use of camera movement throughout the video.
• Possibly include more shots off all band members.

We have found all these points very helpful to work with and we believe they will help us improve our idea. Overall the feeling was that it was a very good first draft of the performance, and once we add narrative, it will work really well.

Rough Cut 1 - full performance cut

Here is our first full rough cut of just performance shots. This was edited on iMovie by George and filmed on a Nikon D300s.

GG - Performance Shooting

Me and Tom recently shot 'The Swing Movement' during a practise session to get some performance shots for our video. This proved to be very successful and the band were very helpful in meeting every demand we asked of them. We got each member to play the song through once, during this time we filmed them individually for the whole song. We then asked them to play it for a fifth and final time where we filmed them all throughout the song. During the time of shooting, we used one camera for filming, and one for photography.

I then edited all the clips together on imovie to create a music video focussing fully on performance. All the shots were in sync with the audio. This was mainly for personal experimentation, to check all the shots worked.

We filmed the performance on a Nikon D300s. This gave us the chance to film in and out of focus to create a hidden image to the band. This camera is used at many universities and colleges.

I am very happy with the final outcome and really pleased with the editing. we filmed around 30 minutes of footage leaving us lots to play around with. I will post the video up as soon as its on Youtube. 

TW - Planned Schedule Until February

Tuesday 3rd January - Monday 9th January

• Have the blog up to date by Monday 9th.
• Begin research into digipaks and what aims we have for our custom one.
• Begin magazine ad research.
• Complete the animatic storyboard by scanning it in and posting it on the blog.
• Show completed performance footage and draft narrative footage for audience feedback then blog on it.
• 7th Podcast and 1st vodcast.

Monday 9th January - Monday 16th January

• Film narrative footage, and have cast finalised prior to this (1-2 members are required).
• 8th and 9th podcasts and 2nd vodcast.
• Begin deconstructing music videos in the same genre as our chosen track.
• This will help make sure we are adhering or conforming to the codes and conventions of this genre's music videos.

Monday 16th January - Monday 23rd January

• Design first draft of magazine advertisement.
• Mantain that the blog is up to date.
• Using the audience feedback, shoot more narrative footage for the video, in order to improve it.
• Finalise research into all 3 parts of the coursework, and start composing final pieces to be submitted.
• 3rd vodcast.

Monday 23rd january - Monday 30th January

• Have the rough cut for the music video given feedback and this feedback will be used to compose the final cut.
• Use feedback for digipak and magazine ad drafts to improve final products.

TW - Narrative Aspect - Audience Feedback

We have recently received feedback for footage we shot for our music video, which will be 
used for the narrative aspect of the video, and here it is;

The shakiness in the camera has to be removed, possibly rectified by strapping it to the car, 
instead of simply holding the camera above it?
The shots appear to be a bit repetitive, this may change when we mix in the performance footage.
Match the shots to the lyrics more often, this could be done by adding a back story, which was 
also suggested.
Possibly invent new meaning to running away, such as ripping up photos of the past, or start the 
video with a diegetic flashback. After listening to this we have decided to edit in a feature in which 
our lead cast member will look at a photo, and after a close up on the photo, it goes into a new 
scene, from the still image, if that makes sense.
Faster cuts may be more appropriate instead of running, walking with fast cuts could also do the job.
Possibly using past locations that have meaning to the main character.
In our idea of using a car, then bike, then walking, that narrative could be that he begins by 

destroying things in his home, his car then breaks down, then the bike breaks, and he could possibly
hitch-hike, and end the video with him walking into the sea.
There must be an obvious reason for his journey, and this needs to be explained.

After looking at this feedback, we have decided to use a narrative that will have the main character 

be looking at pictures in an album, the picture he is looking at will then be shot in close up, before 

it then becomes the scene on screen, as if each picture is a memory. This narrative could work 

in the sense of a deteriorating relationship, and at the end he rips up the photographs to signify 

he has finally moved on.

The Swing Movement - Sample Scene 2

Here is our first sample scene for our narrative idea. This was meant to show the traveling aspect of our music video. Filmed on a HD camera and edited on Final Cut.

Podcast/6

Target Audience and feedback.

GG - Research into Digipaks (Alternative/Indie)

I have looked at five digipak examples from home for our specific genre of our music video (alternative/indie). After previously looking at the main codes and conventions in an earlier post, I am now going to be more specific and look at ones closely linked to our band.

Here is my previous post on digipaks: http://geogamm111.blogspot.com/2011/12/gg-codes-and-conventions-of-digipaks.html

The five bands I chose to look at were:

• White Lies
• The Libertines
• Arctic Monkeys
• Warpaint
• The Strokes

My first observation clearly showed that on all digipaks the song titles were presented on the back, although none of them had song length included. I also noticed that all of them consisted of barcodes, record label logo's and website information. These were always presented at the bottom of the pack.

Another observation showed that predominantly the front covers were plain and lacking any creative imagery (apart from The Libertines). They mainly consisted of the band name, and a single image or design. The 'Arctic Monkeys' case only consists of an image and nothing else, they rely heavily on advertisement of the image.

Finally, I noticed that inside all of the digipaks they consisted of a booklet. Inside it mainly had the lyrics to all the songs and some band information. Also it had imagery of behind the scenes and artistic design work.

GG - Things I have learnt using Final Cut Express

Today I discovered how to use multi layering, reverse shots, how to use special effects, how to use transitions and finally how to export it.

Firstly I learnt how to multi layer two or more shots together. (Place the clip above the clip you want to layer it with and select the above clip, go to motion, make the scale smaller, click on the centre button, then finally play around with the opacity. This has made our shots look much more professional and less boring to watch, it can help us create a sense of confusion for our main protagonist.

Secondly I learnt how to reverse shots, we will find this very helpful when shooting the shot of our protagonist travelling away. (Insert, modify, speed and finally reverse).

Thirdly I learnt how to use special effects to change the on screen look of the shot. This gives them a better look and can create a sense of confusion. (Select the clip you want ,effects, video filters then select the one you want).

Finally I learnt how to export clips from Final Cut to a portable file for youtube and other sites. This now means I can share all of my work onto internet sites like 'vimeo' and 'Youtube'.

Our Treatment

The Swing Movement - Jigsaw (Treatment)

GG - Final Idea

We have decided on the track 'Jigsaw' by 'The Swing Movement' to incorporate with our initial idea for our video. We believe this song will fit the needs of a 'face paced' drum beat and the lyrics can match with the scenario we planned.

The idea is two have both performance and narrative going on in the video, although they don't link. The male in the video will be running away from what appears to the viewer as a failed relationship. This will be portrayed through the use of flashbacks. We will create the look of these shots being in the past through editing them to make them black and white, we will also add a white flash before the shot comes on. We will film the male running away through driving away, then breaking down and finding a bike, then his tier pops and he runs the last part of his journey. Currently we are going with the idea that the viewer never finds out where the male ends up, but this could change.

The performance aspect will consist of the band practising in my basement, it will be shot like our first sample footage. We have had confirmation that at least two of the original band will be able to film. This will cross cut with the narrative throughout the whole video.

 Jigsaw (Single Version) by TheSwingMovement

We have taken two sets of practise footage, one consisting of performance, and one with narrative. We have learnt through this process some of the problems we may face when filming such as; road restrictions. These videos have also helped us learn new skills on Finalcut.

First sample footage (performance)

Here is our first sample scene for our performance footage. Filmed on a D300s and edited on iMovie.

TW - Right Here Right Now Idea 1 - Problems

We have constructed 2 ideas for this song, the first being shot with a band and one member being left behind 

and having o make his own way to where they are playing. George has detailed this idea on this blog post. 

After talking about this, I have seen the following problems in our idea, in which we have to overcome:

• How do we shoot the opening scene? Do the band leave him behind AFTER packing his stuff, 
• seemingly forgetting he is in the van. Should the band member run after the vehicle shouting, throw 
• drumsticks etc?
• Can we attain a van to shoot this scene with? A simple band practice or location where instruments 
• are already set up would be an easier idea.
• How many scenarios and modes of transport will be needed for the video? an the cast member ride 
• a skateboard for example? In the winter will we be able to shoot in a forest/river.
• Do the band realise they have left him behind IF we go this way and not have band practice?
• Should we involve some lip syncing to the main lyric 'Right here right now'? Possible shot is a very 
• fast paced, panning shot around in a snori cam angle, the main band member(one who is left behind) 
• saying these lyrics?
• How do we end the video?Performance? Going on to play? simple band practice as initially suggested?
• Will we need permission from crowd members, how many will we need?
• Finding a set location for the end scene IF we go with the idea of performance to a live audience in 
• the final scene
• Is there anyone he meets on the way? This is very unlikely and will only be used to aid the narrative, 
• if need.
• Could he possibly miss the performance, turn up to late? Narrative enigma if they let him back in the 
• band?
• Do we need performance footage in between shots of the band member trying to get to the venue?

All of these problems will be talked through by myself and George, and when we have a final idea with no 

problems we will do a full blogpost on how we have avoided the problems and how we intend to make this 

plan a success.

Videos linked to our idea (draft)

TW - Idea 1

My first idea is Hunting For Witches by Bloc Party. Although this song had a music video made in 2007, 

in the year of release, the video is purely of performance. This would mean as long as our idea differs 

from this, the video will be completely different in every aspect.



My idea would be to have increasingly fast paced shots of a paranoid character from 0- 25 seconds 

as it meets the strangeness of the song opening. It can then be cross cut from black and white, to 

showcase the past, to colour as to how he has got to where he is, which is the paranoid feeling of being 

followed. The black and white would show the character watching the news, and seeing a report on 

'witches' to meet the song lyrics. The cross cutting would see how he reacts to the report, and then 

shots of him trying to escape, and seeing people in hoods to be the 'witches'. The news report would 

meet the lyrics of 1:02. After the initial paranoia, the character would run to the loacation of the band 

playing (as performance shots would be included), and recruit them to go 'hunting' for the 'witches'. 

The final shots of the video would be of the group chasing the 'witches' into the woods, and the main 

character getting lost, he stumbles and as he turns he sees all of the hooded figures around him, 

indicating they will decide his fate.

TW - Idea 2

My 2nd idea is How Your Remind Me by Nickelback. Both the song and it's video was created in 2001 and 

is still extremely popular today.

My idea would again include performance shots, whilst the narrative would show the protagonist 

struggling with day to day life, as he is constantly reminded of a past relationship. This could 

be shown by having the woman seemingly appear in situations such as escaping a robbery, driving, 

or anything that could take his mind of an important situation, as these are early ideas that can be 

changed or improved. The idea is that seeing his ex partner will in short ruin all activity that is 

important or could be a big deal for him. Eventually, he will get extremely frustrated and go on a 

rampage in his house, destroying anything related to his ex, or just anything that crosses his path, 

beginning with a photo of them both together, that he rips in 2 to show the separation.

TW - Idea 3

My 3rd idea is to use To The Bone by The Swing Movement. This is George's brother's band therefore

filming performance footage would be very easy, compared to getting other bands. I had this idea on Friday,

and after speaking with George, we both like the song as an initial project. It was made in 2008 but 

no video has been created for this song.

The idea would be of a male character walking around, with lots of close ups from snori cam in particular,

looking around at people. many people are staring back at him, and this causes paranoia inside him and 

he begins to become agitated, This would continue until he finally snaps and proceeds to push around one 

particular person who is staring at him. The violence escalates and he ends up slamming the person to 

the floor, and walking away, while everyone stares at him, this time with reason. He would then break 

into a run, people still looking at him, and his pace increases until he is going full pace. His destination 

is his house and the last shot would be of him opening his door, and slamming it behind him, before 

he walks into a deserted living room, which would be just darkness, no lighting. This would meet the 

eerieness of the song, and a winter atmosphere would only add to an eerie theme.

TW - Idea 4

My 4th idea is Song 2 by Blur. This was made in 1997 which means that making a video for this would be no
problem, as it is now 14 years on.

The idea is to have cross cuts between performance and narrative, with the band being in both aspects. It would
begin with performance until the first lyrics begin, in which it would change to a man walking, he would lip
sync with a various range of cuts. The lyrics would not match the narrative though. The man will be walking
in dark attire down a long road, with occasional shots from an ELS shot from the end of the road in
order to show the distance they walk, and possibly some slow motion.
Every now and again throughout the walk another member of the band will appear, until finally there will
be all 4 band members at the end of the alley, the camera will then track them as they turn a corner
in slow motion, into the middle of a road. The will then stop there as another group come out opposite
them. They will then run at each other and a side view of them almost clashing when it cuts to black to
end the video.
My inspiration for this idea came when watching This is England and Green Street as this song is
commonly used in user made football videos on social media such as youtube, and the collison idea
came from Green Street especially to give an indication of football hooliganism, or hooliganism in general.