Evaluation Question Three Notes/Script base

We asked members of our group who fit our target audience criteria of what they thought of our music video based on elements like camera shots, lip syncing etc.

One of the problems that people had with our rough cut music video is that the shots were static and didn't really move to make the audience connect with the video. We took this criticism on board and re shot some aspects of the video including some moving shots of the members so it keeps the energy of the song and help connect the audience to the visuals.

Another comment that was mentioned was that the pace of the clips was too drawn out and didn't match the tempo of the song as well the over abundance of the master shot of the band. With this in mind we shortened the clips down to 4 seconds at the most for each shot and used the new shots we re-filmed to replace some of the master shots which kept repeating in the rough cut.

One last thing that was mentioned to us was that the lip-syncing was off in some places, this was due to Jake's early queues which de-synced the singing. For the Final Cut we kept all the lip syncing that was alright and then replaced the bad lip syncing with new shots with better lip syncing.

Other than these criticisms, our video was well received from audiences praising it for its Slender Sub-plot, the band's performance and the camera shots that we did use effectively.

Magazine and Digipack

Production Booklet

We filled out a production booklet which had information on our shotlist, locations, contact details and health and safety information. This booklet was used at the set so that we were clear on everything we needed to do whilst filming our music video. This production booklet was scanned and uploaded to flicker. The images of all the pages are below.





This is our music video set-up, this is where we decided what shots we were going to be using in our music video, we also decided what roles people in our group would be allocated to as well as pro[s and location.


These are the health and safety sheets, we used these sheets to list possible hazards that we might come up against whilst filming in the woods.

Final Cut

Magazine Advertising

Most artists use magazines as a form of Promotion for either albums, tours, video releases etc. Magazines such as Kerrang and NME specialize in promoting musical artists in different forms. One form of magazine advertising is featuring an artist on the front cover of the magazine using big pictures that stand out from the rest of the magazine with the use of image size and colour contrast. The reason that magazines use this method is because it stands out compared to the rest of the magazines on the shelf which would appeal audiences into buying the magazine.

Artists will want to use magazine advertising because it is an easy way for them to be able to promote to their target audience. It also allows them to be able to get across a lot of information into a small place. Artists are able to use images for people to be able to relate to and recognize, which then means that when they use any other kind of promotion then their target audience will see these and want to look at this other promotion. They also try and promote other featured artist by using bold text to alert the viewer of what other artists are featured in the magazine.

Magazines will also use reviews of live performances to promote artists. The reason why magazines use this is because it provides the target audience with reasons to go and see the band and it also makes the audience feel that it is worth them seeing the band. Along with this magazines also incorporate album reviews which give critic reviews on what they thought of the band's album and if it is worth buying or not.

Reshoot After Feedback

Based on  our feedback that we received yesterday, we decided that we need to re-shoot certain shot types of our music video and add more variety to the shots that we should use for our video. One of the main problems with this is that we can not get hold of the drummer as he is busy at his job so we can't use him for drums, but luckily we dont need to film anymore drumming angles. The second problem that we have is that non of us are free to go back to our original filming location so we will have to use the woodland area outside the college. we also need to re film so that the lip syncing will be more accurate.

Other than them short comings most of our feedback was mostly positive with appraisal for the current editing style and use of camera shots with shots matching the lyrics (Slender notes) and as for the reshoot there should be no problems with reshooting, the props we will need will be:

• Guitars (Bass and Electric)
• The same clothing that we used for the original shoot for the sake of continuity.

Different Editing Techniques

We are using Final Cut Pro for the editing of our music video.

We are planning to use different editing techniques in our music video. we are planning to keep each shot in our music video 5 seconds each at the most, the reason why we think this will be effective is because it will match the pace of the music tempo and it will also keep the viewer interested in our video because  no shots will drag out to an extent where the viewer won't get bored watching it.

In terms of transitions between shots, we will not use fades or slide transitions for our music video because they would out of place with the music because the genre is a sort of indie rock/pop. We will most likely use straight jump cuts between shots to help keep the pace of the video. We will also keep true to the game and use a static transition when we show Slenderman.

Filters wise we are planning to use a variety of camera filters for our msuic video as this is the look we are trying to achieve. This will also tie in well with our genre.

Rough Cut

Shooting the Video

On Friday 12th October, we booked all of our equipment  that we needed from the media department:

• Camera
• Tri-pod
• Filter/Reflector
• 2 high-power torches

we decided that we were film our music video in a forest in Wicken were our group member Adam Stronge lives. Another reason we decided to film in Wicken is because it has lots of woodland areas where we could film our slenderman scenes.

Adam Woods and Jake arrived earlier to shoot than expected because they managed to get an earlier train from Cambridge to Ely for their lift to Wicken. Yasz arrived at the shoot around 4pm which is when we left the house to start filming.

With permission from the farmer Gary Savile, we were allowed to film our music video in a small woodland area near his field. One of the main obstacles we had to endure was to move all the music equipment from the house to the forest. Our drummer was able to move the equipment in his car from the house to the edge of the field. it was a 6 minute walk from the car to wooded area so we had to carry the guitars, camera equipment and the drum kit across a muddy field.

It took about 20 minutes to set up the camera and drumkit together to start filming. we first did a long shot of the whole band so in the editing process we will have a shot to fall back on. we then started tio film a different camera angles of the individual band members for more variety of shots.

After we finished filming, we set ourself the task of taking pictures for our digipack.

We finished filming the performance before it started to get dark so we packed up the equipment and went back to the house to start writing the slender notes for our slender side of the music video. Yasz had to go home at 6pm after we filmed the band performance.

We then managed to fix up a Slenderman costume for Adam S. using a white t shirt for the face mask, a Soham Village College Blazer, school trousers, a white polo shirt and smart shoes. we then started walking around Wicken looking for suitable filming locations to film our Slender scenes such as a public pond, play park, old phone box, the parish hall, a cemetery and the woods where we filmed our band scenes. We started to film the slender scenes 8:30pm when it was dark so the footage would be faithful to the game. We then asked for help from our drummer Dan to help with the lighting for the cemetery scene. 

Slender Man - The story behind the face

Slender Man (a.k.a Slenderman) is a mythical creature often depicted as a tall, thin figure wearing a black suit and a blank face. According to the legend, he can stretch or shorten his arms at will and has tentacle-like appendages protruding from his back. Depending on the interpretations of the myth, the creature can cause memory loss, insomnia, paranoia, coughing fits (nicknamed “slendersickness”), photograph/video distortions and can teleport at will.

The origins of 'Slenderman' are that in 2008 a 'paranormal pictures' photoshop contest was posted on Something Awful Forums. The contest required participants to turn ordinary photographs into creepy-looking images through digital manipulation and then pass them on as authentic photographs on a number of paranormal forums. Something Awful users soon began sharing their faux-paranormal creations with layered images of ghosts and other anomalies, usually accompanied by a fabricated witness account to make them more convincing.On June 10th, SA user Victor Surge posted two black and white photographs of unnamed children with a short description of “Slender Man” as a mysterious creature who stalked children.

 


These are the images that were produced by Victor Surge.
Source - http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/slender-man

The game was created by Mark J. Hadley, known on YouTube (and on the Unity forums) as AgentParsec. The original design document for the game, originally called Slender Man The Game was posted on the Unity forums on the 5th of May.
Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slender:_The_Eight_Pages

It has spawned a worldwide craze due to the game's simplistic design and catchy gameplay. The game has been played the world over and due to the popularity there are now many different varieties of 'slenderman' images.

Filming Schedule

We are going to be filming our music video on Friday 12th October after we all finish college. Adam W and Jake will be traveling by train to Ely and then getting a lift to Wicken. We plan to begin filming at around half 3/4 o'clock and to continue filming till late afternoon when we can get the dark shots. This will be our only day of filming due to circumstances which make people unavailable to film. We will draw up a filming plan so that we know what we are doing, and this will ensure that everything goes smoothly and we gain enough coverage for thew video.

Location

Location

We have decided on an initial location of using a forest in Wicken. The location is just down the bottom of Drury Lane.

The location is a public forest with access to the left of the forest where we will be able to park a car for the drum kit. Inside of the forest there is a clearing which is where we will be able to film the performance shots and then there is more covered areas where we will be able to film the sub plot.

There are also different locations where we could possibly film more shots or the sub plot. These are located close to the main location and are within walking distance.

The location has many different hazards which we will need to be aware of when filming. Potential hazards will include trip hazards such as tree roots and fallen tree's. There will also be trip hazards like cables for lights.

Equipment

The equipment that we are going to use includes:

• A camera
• Tripod
• Dolly
• Lights
• Guitars (Bass and Electric)
• Drum Kit

We will be using the camera to film our video and we will be using the tripod to keep the camera steady. We might also use a dolly for shots where the camera will be traveling. We will be using external lighting to light up where we are filming as we will be filming at night. We will possibly acquire these from college. The instruments will be used for the performance as the band that we are doing the song for have instruments. We will use our own instruments for the performance.

Digipak analysis

The font similarities between the Sum 41 and Green Day covers are bold so they stand out in contrast to the rest of the covers.

The colour similarities are that the Green Day and A Day To Remember covers are both flat but bright colours with a lot of mixture of colour across the whole cover. Another similarity between these two is that there is a lot going on in these covers, which is a contrast to the other two where there isn’t a lot. This is a layout similarity.

Track Selection

This is the selection of music track that were presented to us that we had to use for our music video. the genres range from rock to rap and from rave to new-wave.
We decided to chose 'The Dilemma - You Me At Six' as our track.

Pitch

Costume

Performers:
•The performers will have to dress in a hipster fashion. E.g. White vests, checkered shirts, black skinny jeans, beanies and either converse or vans. 

Slender Man:

•Slender man will be dressed according to how he is portrayed in the game “slender; the eight pages” so he will have black trousers, white shirt, red tie and black jacket. We will use a white t-shirt to cover his face.

Performers

We have decided that we will be using members from the group to be performers in the video. Adam Stronge, Adam Woods and Jake Hardwick will be in the video representing the band. We have also managed to find an outside performer who can play the drums for the video. This performer is Adam Stronges brother.

Jake will be the lead singer of the group and will be required to learn the lyrics. Adam Woods will be playing guitar for the performance. He will be playing electric and acoustic guitar. Adam Stronge will be playing bass guitar for the performance.

Our basic idea

Our basic idea is to make a performance video with a sub plot involving the urban myth “The Slender Man”.
We chose this idea because we thought that it would make effective intertextuality between the video and the internet game "Slender".

music choice

The song we have chosen as a group is 'The Dilemma' by You Me At Six

We chose this song for many reason, firstly as a group we liked the particular genre of music that You Me At Six are part of. Another reason is because we wanted to do something different compared to the songs that other groups had chosen, most of them had chosen something that is like drum and bass or girls singing sad songs, whereas by chosing this song and genre it gives us a lot of options to have our music video which is very orginal. We also liked the idea that we could use instruments within this song as it was clear that there were instruments envolved.

Lyrics:

Let me tell you a story bout' a boy and a girl, 
A very different version than you've ever heard.
Ok so I'm lying but all I'm trying to say, 
This isn't about the one that got away.

Watch it from your ivory tower, 
Paint the sky grey, like a coward.
How long you got?
I can go for hours.
A sweet little tale that ended sour, 
My words will ring in your ears.

Take my advice and leave right now.
You can't find a way to sell yourself, 
To someone who cares, 
To someone desperate.

First came along my friends were dubious, 
She cared for the stage, not who she was with.
I brushed it off and hit the road, 
Only to hear she's in the other's 'pose'.
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/y/you_me_at_six/the_dilemma.html ]
It was the end of summer in 2009, 
I wasn't really looking but what did I find?
A golden girl with golden hair, 
When I was with her everybody stared.
And I couldn't believe my luck had changed.
And I asked so nice but I 'wouldn't stay'

Take my advice and leave right now.
You can't find a way to sell yourself, 
To someone who cares, 
To someone desperate.

'Beggars can't be choosers', 
I wouldn't choose you, 
I've got better things to do with my time
I will bear in mind, 
What was in their 'side'

(Na na na na na na na na na na, na na na na na na na, 
Na na na na na na na na na na, na na na na na na na)

She said who do you, she said who do you, 
She said who do you, she said who, DO YOU! ?
Who, do you? Who do you?
I said who do you, I said who do you.

Who do you, who do you, think you are, 
Who do you, who do you, think you are, 
Who do you, who do you, think you are, 
Who do you, who do you, think, you, are!

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/y/you_me_at_six/#share