Research Into Similar Products: Emotion - Lana Del Rey

As I am reshooting some scenes and filming additional scenes, I have been curious as to how I can make the portrayal of emotion more prominent. To do this I have looked at Lana Del Rey's video for 'Blue Jeans.'
A way in which emotion is shown in this video, quite obviously, is the mise en scene of Del Rey's facial expression. She paints a rather sad emotion on her face and is made obvious through the use of close ups throughout the video. This is something that I did not think of doing and so will consider doing more close ups when re-filming, therefore making my video more obviously emotional.



Also, the use of the black and white filter also adds a melancholy feel to the video as it makes it seem as though the relationship can only be one thing or another and so makes it sad in that way. It also makes it seem as though things have lost their brightness/happiness in this relationship and this could be an interpretation and idea that could be used in my own video as well.

Organisation: Shot List

As I plan to film some time next week, Ihave made a shot list so I don't forget anything. 

Next to some of the shots I have put that I need to film them as a video as well as in stop motion. I have done this in case the stop motion doesn't look good when pieced together with the rest of the video and so therefore don't limit themself. 

Drafting and Planning: Additional Storyboarding

As I plan to film some extra footage to fill in the gaps, I have storyboarded them to show what I want it to look like. 

In these new shots, I will have the characters touching each other more to show a glimpse of the closeness that was once there and to show a small bit of familiarity between the two. Originally, I was not going to include any touching in my video until the flashback scenes to show the distance, but I feel, that, with small gestures like the ones I will be filming, it will have a bigger impact  on the viewer because it will so a desire for things to be normal between the two again.

Drafting and Planning: Effects

Whilst putting my music video together, I have made some decisions on what effects I will use. I have used for two clips (so far) and effect called half and half greyscale, in which it creates a gloomy look. I have used this because it shows how, despite the fact they're together in the frame there's still sadness and tensions between the two. 

I have also used a blue effect to show a similar feeling. I used this colour to make it more interesting to watch. 

To make sure the blue is the same blue every time I use it, I have made a note of the specific data so I can get it right every time. 

I have also used a simple black and white effect for the flashback shots to give it a nostalgic feel and to make it clear that it is actually the past and not the present. 

Organisation: Flashback Footage

For the flashback footage, I have asked my actors to film videos of them in homely environments to get a real feel of how happy they were in the past. I really like the footage as it is very happy and so will make it clear that the two characters were once happy to be with each other. 

Research Into Similar Products: Stop Motion and Video Footage

As I have decided to use stop motion, but only in parts, I have decided to look for other videos that this too to see if it actually looks ok. I came across the video for 'Used For Glue' by Rival Schools which does exactly this. The video uses stop motion for to show the progression of the two peoples romance and video footage for content surrounding the bands performance. The use of stop motion is only small as well, so the technique is overdone which is how I also planned to use it so it gives me hope that my video won't be too much. This video uses a border around the stop motion photos so it's as if these are events are something to be remembered as they look as if they are photos in a frame which is a nice effect. 

 

Drafting and Planning: Practice With Stop Motion

To understand how stop motion works, I have been making practice videos using this technique. From this excercise, I have understood how many photos I'll need to fill a small amount of time. For example, in the video below, I used 76 photos which filled 12 seconds, and so when I do it for the real thing, I know to take a similar amount as I will need it to be about 10seconds long.


The video following my cats took 88 photos to do which totalled to 13 seconds.


To edit all the photo's together I used the youtube video creator and so the timings are not all accurate as it's very difficult to see the length of each. When doing stop motion for the real thing, I will be using MoviePlus and so will be able to put them together in a way that looks smoother as I will be able to type in the duration rather than use a slider. 

Research Into Similar Products: Stop Motion

After compiling all the footage I filmed this week, I have discovered that I have not filmed enough footage and so have spent the week thinking of more ideas. One idea that has crossed my mind is the use of stop motion. My favourite videos use this effect and I think it's very good at capturing expressions as well as nostalgia. The video for 'A Movie Script Ending' by Death Can For Cutie uses this and effectively out across the lovers sadness. 






The way in which it is used in the video 'Thirty Three' by The Smashing Pumpkins is another I quite enjoy. The technique gives the video a rather strange feeling which fits nicely with the concept of the track as well as the album on the whole. 





Therefore, due to the ways in which both these videos show a rather dramatic emotion, i know i can use this effect successfully and will attempt to do so. However I will not use it for my whole video.

Target Audience: Fonts

I have tweeted the image of the various fonts that I could use for my digipak, to find out which font would be better accepted by my target audience. 

 From this I have learnt that the third font is the better font as it appeals more to my target audience. One of the commenters later pointed out to me that if my genre of music was that of pop, the first font would be very good which confirms that the third font is therefore better for the indie genre I am targetting.

Target Audience: Response To Footage

After filming my footage, I posted it onto Youtube to see what other people thought about it.
I recieved a comment for my 'leg pan' video which said:

This is reassuring as it shows that the feelings I wanted to show, are made clear through shots like this, and so I know I am on the right track for achieving the feeling I want.

Another comment I recieved was the one below for my 'wonky Meg and Ben' video:

These comments are very encouraging to me as it shows that people can take various interpretations from the video and so I can only hope that when the video is put together, it will have the same effect as this.

A comment I recieved for the video 'Relax' was also lovely:

This comment is very useful to me as the aim of this shot was to show the separation and distance and this comment has shown that this has been effectively put across so this is very good for the overall product.

The comment I recieved for 'Meg Walking' was insightful as it offered advice on how I could improve my footage:

This is very helpful to me as it means that the shaky video definitely needs stabilising just as I thought.

The comment I recieved for the video 'Walk Away' was nice:

This comment also shows how the emotion I wanted to put across was shown successfully.

The final comment I found for the video 'Walking' was again, reassuring:

This comment reflects the exact intentions I had for this shot and means that I have again, successfully shown the emotion and got across the message that I want to show within my music video and so I can assume that overall, my footage has been a success.

Research Into Similar Products: Editing - Everything Everything

Now that I have come to the editing stage of my video I have been looking at ways in which I can make my footage look more interesting when pieced together. Everything Everything's video for 'Don't Try' is filled with inspiration.
The use of fades when showing the zooms from medium close up to close ups is something I quite enjoy and I can use when switching between the close ups of my two actors, in stead of or as well as the type of fade used in the 'Blackstar' video.



I also enjoy the use of mirroring in this video as it makes it more interesting to look at and offers different views of the same image. This is something I may also include in my video as I feel it could reflect the two different people and the two sets of emptions as being apart from each other, and so could bring a new meaning to some of my shots. The way it is only used for a second or so is quite useful as it means that the effect isn't overdone so still keeps it interesting.

Drafting and Planning: Photos For Digipak and Magazine Ad

Whilst filming my footage, I took the opportunity to take some shots for my magazine and digipak. I went through with the sparklers and took the photos in my back garden. 

I really like these photos as the dark lighting makes the sparklers and Ben and Megan stand out. It highlights their faces and how happy they are. When actually using these, I will zoom in more so that the cover has less negative space. I have decided that I will use the last three photos for my digipak as I think that they are the best images and show the sparklers well. They look exactly how I planned. 

Drafting and Planning: Footage

On Saturday, I filmed the majority of the footage for my music video. I feel like they have been filmed successfully and have managed to get every shot I planned. 

The shots I think were the most successful are below. I think that with the right editing they will look exactly how I want them too and will fit perfectly with the song. 

However, some shots I filmed look good but the bags and tripod got into the shot so I will have to re-film them. 

Organisation: Shot List

As I plan to film my video tomorrow, I have decided to make a shot list to make sure I cover every shot I need. I have split it up into shots that include Ben, shots that include Megan and shots that contain them both. I have done this as I have put them in order of how I plan to film them. I have chosen this specific order as Megan will be wearing a dress and so to make sure she doesn't freeze, I have saved her shots til last so that she can stay as warm as possible. 

Research Into Similar Products: Establishing Shots

I have been considering using establishing shots in my music video to help it to flow and to give a little break from the constant shots of Ben and Megan. However, I have been unsure of how to actually use them in my video and so have looked at other videos to see how they have been used.
Lana Del Rey's video for 'Music To Watch Boys To' opens with establishing shots of the water in which the video is set in. This is an effective place to include these shots as I think that it fits with the acapella that opens the track - it creates a mysterious and calm tone to the video.

 

Bombay Bicycle Club also use establishing shots in their video for 'Almost Like This.' They use establishing shots to open the video as well as throughout. This is similar to how I would like to use them in my own. I like the way in which establishing shots are used in this video as they are edited in a stop-start way, and so make the video look quite home-videoesqe.

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Target Audience: Response To Digipak Draft

As I was unsure about which route to take in terms of my design, I decided to see what members of my target audience think and which one they prefer.

 Everyone has said that they prefer the sparkler idea. I can see why they have chosen this as this design is much more appealing to a younger audience and so I shall go with the sparkler idea. Especially as, now that I have drawn it out, the football idea looked abit 'all over the place' and so it's definitely a good idea to stick with the sparklers.

Research Into Similar Products: Shot Types - David Bowie

The release of Bowie's new video for the track 'Blackstar' has offered me a world of inspiration for shot types - particularly tracking shots.
The first shot that caught my attention was the tracking shot used when the woman comes on screen. I am using a similar shot to this in my own video, however this is going much slower than I planned to do it. I like this much more as it sort of lingers on her as she moves, as if in no hurry to move forward and so I shall consider the pace when conducting my tracking shot.



I also plan to use a tracking shot in which the camera follows my actresses feet directly behind. However I have been worried about it looking too shakey or not being able to carry it out effectively. In Blackstar, it follows the womans feet but indirectly and so doing the shot this way could be a good alternative.


The way in which the camera tracks Bowie also has inspired me. The way in which the camera is moving away from him is something I really like and could try when doing close ups on the actors faces when opening the video.


Although this is to do with editing, this is something else I really enjoy. The way in which the shots of the two women fade in together looks really amazing and is something that I could do when putting the close ups of the two actors together to show how they were once close.


The way in which a low angle establishing shot is used in this video is something else that really stood out to me. This shot is quite unusual and interesting as it doesn't actually show very much. I really like this shot and will attempt to use it in my own video which could show someone walking off towards the side - similarly to how the scarecrows hips are moving in the shot.
 

Drafting and Planning: Digipak Design

I have drafted the front and back covers of my digipak. However, I have had two ideas so I have drafted them both to see which looks better. The first one is the football one. The idea behind this one is to have the two people play fighting in the distance under the goal posts and my thinking behind this is that the natural human nature and actual nature itself is always shadowed by man made things, e.g. the football and the goal posts.
The second idea I have drafted is the one in which there is a couple laughing whilst using sparklers. I like this one cause the laughter is natural and the sparklers can show how we manipulate nature to our own needs. The photos for this would be much more close up on the actual thing.

Research Into Similar Products / Organisation: Use Of Colour - The Shins

The video for New Slang by The Shins, uses a lot of different colours to open the video in particular, but throughout too. The video opens with yellow, blue and a black and white filter which I quite enjoy as it makes the video interesting to watch. I will incorporate this idea into my own video, particularly in the flashback section, as I feel that it will make my video more interesting also. I can also utilise this idea to keep with my theme of nature, as I can use the colours green yellow and black and white.

 

Target Audience: Magazine Advert

For a while I have been stuck between ideas for how I would like my magazine advert to look. The first idea I had was to have the album art take up the whole page or nearly all of it and have the writing over the top. The second idea I had was to use a white border around the whole advertisement to make it look more modern.
To help make up my mind and to see what would be more effective, I decided to see what my target audience would think. Although one of the adverts I used was for Jack Daniels, I feel that this ad accurately shows the idea I had in mind with the white border.

The feedback I got was quite useful as I have been able to see what would attract my target audience.

I feel that the Bombay Bicycle Club advert is effective in terms of targetting a younger audience as the colours are brighter and the ad features a lot of young people on it - so I think that this is what draws my audience as well as what the above have said. Whereas the Jack Daniels add uses black and white, which makes it a bit more classy and so would attract a slightly older and mature audience.
Thanks to this feedback, I have decided to use the idea of using the album art to take up most of the advert with colours that are linked to the album so that it stands out to my target audience. 

Organisation: Weather Difficulties

Tomorrow I plan to film the majority of the footage for my music video. I plan to do this so that it leaves me ample time to edit it and re-shoot any scenes I need to without having to worry about missing deadlines. However, from looking at the weather forecast for the tomorrow, it's supposedly going to rain all day. If this happens to be the case, I shall postpone filming til the 28th November as that is the next day that I and my actors are free to film. Hopefully the weather will be good for this.
Thankfully, even if the weather isn't what I would like it to be, my actors can still film some of the flashback scenes that I would like to use as they will be done indoors so this means that the day won't be completely wasted. 

Drafting and Planning: Fonts

I have looked at some different fonts to see which I think I'd like to use for my album cover. The fonts I have picked out are the ones below. 

The first font is freestyle script. I like this font as it flows nicely and the way in which it slants makes it seem quite pretty. 
The second font is californian FB. I like this font also as it looks quite formal and the same applies for the fifth font too (Simsun-Extb)
The third font is felix titling and I like this one as it is again, quite formal but I like how all the lettering is in capitals and the ways in which the 'R' flicks up, making it look less strict. 
The fourth is rockwell. I like this one because of the boldness and how the letters are quite rounded. 
The final font is calibri and this one is nice because it is quite simple and rounded.    

Research Into Similar Products: Album Back Covers

The back of albums tend to be formatted in three different ways. One way is to have a completely blank back cover, similar to that of Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division. The second is to have the track listing only on the back and the third is to have a photo accompany the track listing. I prefer the final way myself, as it shows a nice link between the whole art of the album. I have been researching different ways in which artists have encorporated their photos with their track listings. The album 'Music For Films' by Brian Eno includes a photo on the back of the album, however the photograph is in it's own separate frame. I enjoy this layout as it uses the effects used on the photo for the whole back cover and makes the photo stand out as it's own artwork rather than blended. I also like how the album name and artist name is used on the top of the tracklisting to keep it consistent. For my own back cover, I plan to place the album name and title in a similar way to this.

The second back cover that intrigued me is the one used for Pixies 'Doolittle.' The artwork is central to the cover and the tracks are placed around it in a circle. I like this idea as it is unconventional and interesting. Personally, I think it really makes you think about where each track is on the album, in terms of the albums structure and how it fits with the rest of the tracks, as you are searching for the track you would like and end up looking at the tracks that surround it. 

The back of Smashing Pumpkins greatest hits album 'Rotten Apples,' particularly stood out to me. The use of two different colours for the album title on the side of the album and on the back is something I quite like as it breaks up the blea, black and white look and also links to red apples. I also like how the band photo is placed in the middle of the two track listings as it shows the band are central to the music (obviously) and shows them in a fun light. I plan to use colour in a similar way on my own back cover as I feel it will be able to link to nature if I were to use a green colour. 

 

Drafting and Planning / Organisation: Cameras and Webcams

To make the flashbacks at the end of my music video seem realistic and lively, I have been trying to think of ideas as to how I can go about this. After watching the movie Once again, I had the idea to get the actress of my video to film some videos of her and Ben at their homes doing romantic and cute things, but with her laptops webcam. By using a camera of a lower quality, I feel this will produce a nostalgic feel, similarly to that created in the song Lies from the movie. It would also be more realistic as previously, I planned to only shoot the flashback scenes in the park, but my adding more locations, it makes it seem as though there is more history between the two characters. 
 

Richard Ayoade also achieves a nostalgic feel in the movie submarine with the use of a Super 8 camera. The way in which the old camera is used helps to create a romantic feel and the shaky camera adds to the nostalgia.

Organisation: Album Cover

I have decided that for my album art, I shall take a photograph of the two actors I will use for my music video underneath a football goal. I will then use a green filter over the top of it, similar to that used for the album If You're Feeling Sinister that I explored in my previous post. I have chosen the green filter as it will match with the album name, which is sinister to how the red matches to the album name of the Belle and Sebastian album. I have chosen to take the photo underneath a football goal because football goals are usually planted in grass, and so I thought that the juxtaposition of nature with something man-made could provide 'The Truth About Nature,' which is that it's being ruined by mankind.

Organisation: Call List

I have prepared a call list for the actors and myself so that we all know what must be brought to the shooting and when it will be happening. I will give each actor a copy so that they can be completely sure of what they will need and so everything can run smoothly when the day of filming arrives. 

Research Into Similar Products: Album Art

I have been looking at various different types of album art and have realised that quite a few are animated or look drawn by hand. This is evident for The Cure's album 'Boys Don't Cry.' I enjoy this idea a lot as it seems very child-like and natural. This is also more interesting than have a photo as well because it's something unique and is memorable. 

There are other album covers that use filters, such as Belle and Sebastian's 'If You're Feeling Sinister.' There is a red filter used which links to the album name as red connotes violence, anger and lust and also links to the woman looking stressed on the cover.

These albums have really inspired me as their uses of colour and the layout of the actual band name and title are quite unique and can be adapted to my own cover in terms of linking it to nature. 

Organisation: Casting

For my video, I have chosen my two friends Megan and Ben. I have chose these people because I feel they would be able to film the more romantic scenes together without there being any awkwardness as they are a couple in real life. They also already own the costumes I would like to use in my video too so is an added bonus. 

Organisation: Hair

I want to have my female actresses hair quite simply, down and loosely waved/curled to emphasise again the natural look. Taylor Swift used to have her hair like this alot as it was her natural do and I like this look alot cause it's very pretty and casual. 

I will also leave my male actors hair natural as well as I feel the casual look would compliment the female actresses casual look too. Noel and Liam Gallagher used to leave their hair quite simple too in their videos with Oasis and so this simplicity will be quite effective.

 

Organisation: Makeup

For my female character, I plan to use as little makeup as possible to keep the look as natural as possible. I will still use makeup however, but I will stick to a look that is very simple, similar to that of Suzy Bishop in Moonrise Kingdom. Although the makeup around the eyes is rather heavy, I like the way the rest of the face is still quite natural and I feel it is a look that the actress for my video would be comfortable with as well. 

 

Research Into Similar Products: Music Video - Catfish And The Bottlemen - Relationships

Catfish and the Bottlemen released a video for their track Cocoon which features a couple who are separated. Although the characters in my video are not a couple, I have looked at the ways in which a separation and distance is portrayed in this video and this has given me a lot of inspiration. 
First of all, in the opening shots you see a physical distance between the two through the use of a straight cut. This immediately makes the audience aware that they have been separated by something but are not sure by what at this moment in the video. I aim to put shots together in a similar way to this when editing my own video to show the physical distance between the two characters. 

The low angle shot used below emphasises the importance of their happiness when they're together and the mise en scene of the characters facial expressions helps to show this. I had not considered using a low angle shot to show the characters happiness in my video but it is something I can now incorporate in my own video as I feel that it is very effective.

Facial expression plays a very important role in this video as a whole. The pain in the male characters face shows how deeply effected he is by whatever has taken them apart and I wish to show this sort of sadness and also guilt in my own video, so this could be good inspiration for the actors I get for my video. 

There are several simple activities that the couple do when it flashes back in the video and these are simple things that I could include in my own video too, as they are usual everyday activities that people do together.

The video ends in a very similar way as to how I would like mine to end. The final shot is there her hands rubbing his in a reassuring way, showing how they've finally become one again in their own way. However for my own video I plan to show the two hands almost touching, further showing the distance.