Group meetings

Group meetings are essential to carry out for a number of reasons. It allows our group to listen to other members suggestions, have proper organisation and also discuss changes that need to be made. Without having meetings, this would cause confusion, information would be lost and things may change in the production without the consent of another member, which may cause a rift. As a group, it also allows us to create mind maps to creatively picture out what we want in our video, allowing us to compare and discuss all ideas, this is important as others may not only disagree with your idea, but may have a better one than you and also your groups feedback on ideas can also determine whether an idea of yours works or not. Group meetings also allowed us to pass over vital information, for instance, Tyler emailing me and Charlie the email he sent to mercury records. The creation of our storyboards was also vital in planning our music video and could not have happened if all group members were not present to discuss and help with ideas, as we would become confused over the narrative and it would become messy and unorganised. Our strenghts were that when we realised that sometimes it wasn't possible for all members to attend meetings previously arranged, we set up a chat on an app called "Whatsapp" between the three of us, which allowed contact without having to meet face to face and ideas to be traded and also vital pictures to be sent over, such as storyboard images. All group members were active in this chat and very helpful and it definitely contributed towards our success.

Overall, I realised that when carrying out a group meeting, it helps with making group production efficient, it prevents distraction and allows things to run smoothly, however it is still important to try to be flexible and work around issues when it comes to meeting if anything does come up prior. 

I believe me and my group worked well as a team when it came to planning and following our timetables that we arranged with each other. The only instances where we did have some problems towards meeting the schedule was if a group members personal issues prevented being able to complete tasks on certain days such as family commitments for example, but me and my group did manage to work around these factors and in the end found ways of completing tasks set and working around obstacles that we faced, which mainly contained rearranging times, which we did perfectly, linking back to using whatsapp to do this also which really did help. 

If I was to go back and do group meetings again, the one thing I would change would be to discuss our music videos narrative in greater detail as a group together to avoid any more confusion, as this was a small problem we came across, and therefore to make further discussion time talking about the storyboard planning and making sure everyone was clear with the narrative.

Magazine advert

Individual Magazine Advert

Having a music advert is essential for a music artist in advertising a new album of theirs. It can also be used to advetise upcoming concerts. It is important as with no real advertising, not many people would know that an artist has a new album coming out and they want people to buy their album so that they make money, so for this to happen they must at least make people aware of it and advetising in a magazine is one way in which they can do so. Many people can see it and ask themselves more about the album and is the advert is appealing enough it will make the viewer want to go and buy the album. To create our own magazine adverts, we used photoshop CS6, an app with lots of editing tools which enables us to make our pictures and font attractive and also stand out in high quality. We came up with our ideas for our individual music adverts by researching genre conventions and what had previously been successful by indie artists, for example Ed Sheeran and also went to various locations to take photos and find the best which we felt personally represented our artist. 

In terms of colours, there arent that many in the picture besides the actual image, I used black and white font not only because it is conventional to the indie genre as many videos have been shot in black and white by indie artists, for example Hozier - Take me to church, but also it represents the artist, black to show his troubled emotion and dark feelings, further shown by the black clothes he is wearing and also white font, to show deep down he is an innocent person, which connects the audience with the artist as they feel sympathty for him, he is an innocent man going through dark times.

Many conventions of the genre are present in this advert, one being that the artist is holding and playing his guitar. The guitar is the main instrument of the indie genre and many artists of the genre are seen playing or holding it in their music videos, for example Ed Sheeran, Noel Gallagher and Bob Dylan. The artist is also wearing normal casual clothing, which many other indie artists do, they won't wear flashy clothes or jewellery to show off like a hip-hop artist would, they seem down to earth and wear any clothes that you might wear yourself. The artist is also in a rural location, playing his guitar and looking across a lake. Indie artists tend to prefer being here as it is true to them and where they come from, for example, Hozier - Take me to church is set around villages and a log fire. Indie artists are never seen playing in an extravagant location because they aren't known to brag, they want to fit in with their audience and act as if they are on their level and one of them and my artist does this by being in a forest, somewhere that many people live by and can freely walk to any time they wish. 

The image used is of the artist sat down playing his guitar looking across a lake. This has many connotations, one being that he is a troubled character (supported by the black typography and his clothing and loneliness) and that he wants to get away from everything and lakes are considered peaceful places, so he has decided to come here to be alone and do what he loves, play music. Here he is in his own company and can forget about all his problems and just sit and chill doing what he loves. Also, a person looking at lakes is meant to connote they are reflecting upon something, which shows that the songs of the album will mainly feature songs about the artists past and what is hurting him. The title "Rock Bottom" also links with the picture to show he has nothing left, not even a house to sit in (supported by our music video narrative) and that all he has is his guitar, his prize possession. Another image used in the advert which is not relevant to connotations is the music label that the album is being produced from, as this is vital information as it is included on all magazine adverts and shows who the artist is signed up with. 

The typography included is in black and white font, which is conventional to indie as many videos of the genre are shot in black and white. The artists name is in big and the letter "N" is used once but in two words, John and Spencer, going through a gap in the middle of both words to add a cool effect. It then shows the album title in big bold letters, which is important as the title is essential information as potential customers will want to know what exactly they might be buying. It is neatly organised in a vertical fashion down the page, then listing three songs that appear on the album, giving the audience a sneak peak of what they will hear when they buy it. This is important as if a popular song is featured in an advert, it may tempt potential customers to buy it as they know it is a well known song. Another piece of vital information given in typography is the release date and without providing it potential customers would be confused and not know when the album comes out. 

The language used features reviews from reputable sources. They are from Daily Maily, AllMusic and Rolling Stone, all well known critics who all give the album 5 stars and postive comments. The comments feature "Amazing", "Album of the year" and "Breathtaking". This is important to have, as potential customers will not only be drawn in to the fact that they album is rated so highly but also where these reviews come from, they are all well known sources who would have reviewed countless albums over many years, so fans will know for a fact if this album is receiving 5 stars from them, then it must be something worth buying and listening to.

I did find difficulties however when using photoshop. Images were hard to cut and I often ended up removing more of the image background than I wanted and had to undo my steps. I noticed that zooming in when using the cutting tool helped more and I was able to cut more accurately and avoid bulging and unrealistic edges on imported images. 

One strength I had when using photoshop was when implanting text on the advert, I found that I had a seemingly endless supply of fonts to choose from and many sizes could be chosen, so I was definitely not limited when it came to finding which type of font best suited my advert.

Ed Sheeran is an indie artist I have definitely taken inspiration from, he is the most successful indie artist in the world and relates to his audience by coming across as down to earth, I show this by being in a rural location and wearing casual clothing. He also is seen in his videos a lot with his guitar, just like our artist is in my music advert.

I believe that my advert conforms to many indie genre conventions, through iconography and setting and costume. I believe it appeals to our young target audience, as younger people like to feel free and we can see that the artist is free and has escaped from reality and is in his own company. Creating this magazine advert will help promote our artists album as it will raise more awareness around it and create more sales for the artist as it is getting more attention. It also comes as a sneak peak and potential customers seeing this will want to view more and know more about the artist.

Photo Shoot

Photo Shoot – Miss Miller

Pictures were taken in the making of our music videos for a number of reasons. It is essential for planning our digipak, a 6 sided piece which features a CD, Artwork, track list and a personal note from the artist. Many images will be used throughout and it is essential to use the highest quality and best fitting images we can get, which meant we had to take a lot of photos in different places to find the right fit. Photos were also needed because of our magazine advert, which is what attracts a potential customer to an album and signifys the album, it is usually also the front cover of the album. An album without photos will be pretty dull and lifeless and the audience would not be very attracted to it, hence why it is essential to go out and take these photos.

The Pictures that we took mainly consisted of me (the artist) with my guitar and it included me playing it leaning up against brick walls or looking over playing into a lake or sitting down by it. We felt this is necessary as this truly shows the rural environment, artists in the indie genre are proud of where they come from and don't need to show off by showing their viewers that they are in an extravagant location, instead this is plain and simple and also relatable, as the artist is in a place, a forest and a brick wall that you probably see or are at every day. The artist is always seen with his guitar, or if not, there is a shot of the guitar on its own. The guitar is the main instrument of the indie genre and having it in many photos shows that we have included conventions and also artists of the indie genre are always seen either carrying or playing their guitar in music videos or album covers, for example Ed Sheeran, Noel Gallagher and Liam Fray. Doing this also shows the audience what type of sounds you can expect to hear before buying the album. 

On some occasions, weather was a factor and we couldn't take any pictures in the rain, as this would worsen photo quality and also may cause damage to our camera or even ourselves, as mentioned in our risk assessments. Aside from that, we had relative ease taking these photos as the locations weren't hard to get to at all and the photos themselves did not take much effort, they were simple, but effective and conventional.

It shows the artist as a person who is troubled, he wears all black clothing and would always rather be alone and that him sitting by a lake looking over shows he could be reflecting about his past. He also is shown as someone who has a passion for music, he is seen in various locations with his guitar and always travels with it and it shows that this is his most valuable item and also his life.

As a group, we will use our taken photos to create our own individual magazine adverts and digipaks for our artist, to make it the most appealing and realistic as we can. We can compare ideas with each other and help with ideas as to what works best and also make sure that our images not only support indie conventions, but more important sell our artist to the audience as who he really is. The purpose of taking these photos in urban locations was because it is conventional to the indie genre, artists of this genre like to show the fans where they come from as it gives the fans a piece of them. It is also used to show emotions, for example a person looking across a lake is considered to be reflecting on the past, which is exactly what my artist is doing. The more conventions we can include from the indie genre, the more popular it will be as we are sticking with things that sell well and what a high majority of indie fans are familiar with, which betters our chances of having increased popularity.

Filming Schedule

Filming schedule

Prior to planning our production, a filming schedule was important to have in place, to ensure organisation and avoid confusion over what needed to be filmed and when. It allowed us to also plan ahead, for example not arrange anything else on days we were required to film, as it is very important and we had to make sure all group members were free and able to be present on set. Not only did we have to plan what time we would be at a given location, but also who needed to be there and what other things we needed to bring, such as iconography and costumes. It is there to refer back to so that we don't forget what we need on given days and that we are organised and that if we do forget, we have the filming schedule to remind us of all what we need and where we need to be.

There were a few changes we made when filming that we did end up making according to the schedule. The equipment states that we always needed the tripod with the camera, however this turnt out not to be true as our group found success with handheld shots which featured tracking and P.O.V's. One of our filming locations also changed, Liverpool street further down was our original "New playing location" however factors such as limited time and weather came in to play, and as a group we decided to film in our hometown Loughton, as it was also easier for two of our friends to make it there as they were playing an acting role in our music video. A shot we included that wasn't included in our storyboard was of when there is a reaction shot of the artist when his money is stolen, we created this to only show our shot variation but also the artists emotions to the audience. If I were to do the schedule again,

Risk Assesment

Doing a risk assessment is very important for our group. It is used as a plan before we film, to ensure the safety of all people present on the filming set and also to ensure we don't damage the equipment that we have been given. It is also a legal requirement and must be included in all filming productions, such as movies and also music videos. It is important to consider, as not only do we not want people hurt, but also even death can occur with some risks mentioned, obviously something we want to prevent from happening and creating a risk assessment allows us to be aware of the potential risks, know who or what is in danger, how to prevent it from happening and also provide a back-up plan incase we need it to further move past the risk.

Looking back, after filming we did indeed encounter a risk at Liverpool Street that wasn't in our risk assessment, an intoxicated disorderly man wearing a onesie. Despite our pleas and continuous requests of not wanting any alcoholic beverages, he insisted on offering us some which would be highly dangerous as one group member is under the age of 18. We were startled and alarmed, but the man finally scurried away and all the group members were left unscathed and uninjured and we continued with our filming. In future, our group should include drunk people as risks in our risk assessment, as Liverpool Street has many bars, therefore there is a higher chance of coming across someone drunk and aggressive who may cause trouble, the Liverpool Street area is notorious for drunken fights, for example, Leyton Orient Vs Brentwood Hooligans fight in 2011, so the area can be dangerous for drunk people and it should have been in our risk assessment and we should have been better prepared for this event.

Planning Digipak

Planning our digipaks are important for various reasons. They are created by artists to support an upcoming album and add a way to provide more content for their audience and also the person purchasing the album. It isn't exactly considered necessary to create one, however artists like to do this to show that they have gone the extra mile and care about their fans and want to give them as much as possible. It differs from a standard jewel case CD as it is usually made of paper and contains elements that a Jewel case does not, such as a bonus disc, added artwork and a personal note from the artist themselves. As you can see below, I have created my very own digipak to promote an upcoming album from my own artist. It is a mock up drawing and obviously things will change and not look like the real creation, however it is helpful to plan to give ourselves an idea first of what we will create and how we will market the digipak and make it appealing.

First of all, all digipaks most include a CD, as it is the main content the customer is purchasing and is after, As you can see, most of my CD is blank and the black lines are meant to represent the case. I didn't focus on making the CD very artistic, as indie genre designs and album covers aren't known for bright colours or flashy, extravegent images, and including this on the CD would go against genre conventions and could possibly lose me fans, which would be bad as the artist would lose sales, as well as the record company.

One chosen image for the digipak is of the artists guitar. Images and artwork are included across digipaks and are considered bonus content and something you would not get in a jewel case. The use of an image of a guitar is effective in a number of ways. It is a massive convention of the indie genre, the main instrument people would associate with the genre when speaking about it and also many artists of the genre see it as valuable to them, as they are often seeing carrying or playing it in their videos, such as Ed Sheeran, Liam Fray and Passenger. Another meaning can also be that it means a lot to the artist, and just a simple image of the guitar can show that it is his life and what he cares about. This is effective as the audience may grow respect for the artist as the can appreciate he cares and takes time into a hobby he loves doing and if the artist is seen in a good light, the general opinion of him will be good, meaning more people will think better of him and will likely be more tempted to buy his music, meaning more sales for the artist and record label. No typography is sed in this image and the image is pretty blank itself, the picture tells a story rather than being in your face and flashy and has a story to it.

The next image in the top left corner is of the front cover, essential to all digipaks and also Jewel cases. It is what the potential customer will see first and what will attract them to the product. There isn't much imagery and colours to me front cover, as it's typically known that artists of the indie genre give a more down to earth feel on their front covers rather than bright images or effects. Mine can be compared to an indie album cover such as "+" by Ed Sheeran, which just like mine, doesn't have much imagery on offer and shows a profile, direct mode of address shot of the artist. This is sed to show that the artist is a relatable character, a convention of the indie genre, as he is looking right at them and connecting with them and shows his face just as neutral expression, which could show he is reflecting, or that unlike a genre such as rap, he is showing you himself naturally and not putting on any fake personas, and is coming out clean to the viewers of the cover. The title is in big bold font and placed at the top to stand out as this is the most important typography on the cover. There is an affect on the N which connects John and Spencer together, the artists name, I added this as a little effect as I didn't want the cover to seem too boring. My idea in general with the cover is that the artist does not need flashy and bright images to stand out and promote himself, nor does he need to be a fake person and not who he really is, he will give himself for who he really is and many can relate to him and he wants to show that he can be just like you.

The next image is of artwork, a feature of a digipak that differentiates it from a normal Jewel case CD. It shows the artist on his own stood against a tree playing his instrument whilst rain clouds are in the background. This connotes a few things, it shows the artist has been through dark days, hence the rain clouds and rain pouring down, which connotes the past, but he is able to stay true to his one love which is music and that he can forget bad times just through doing what he loves. Performing is what takes away the pain from him and escaping to the woods to play shows he is escaping from the stressful urban life into the rural woods, where he is at peace and in his own harmony, blocking out his demons. No typography is used here, as the image speaks for itself and you wouldn't expect typography to be included on the artwork in digipaks.

The next image is of a personal note from the artist himself, something you won't find in a Jewel case, but not something you'd find in every digipak. It is respected by many if an artist includes this as it is seen as they're going the extra mile to reach out to their fans and give them something personal from themselves. As you can see, the typography I chose was to sign it off with a signiture, as this is something the fan can hold on to and may find valuable. In the note, i wrote how the artist is thankful the those who buy his music and take time to listen to him and that it means a lot to him, which shows the artist is pouring his heart out to his fans and establishing a relationship with them, which is conventional to the indie genre as it's artists are often seen as relatable, down to earth people who can form a connection with their fans.

The final image on the digipak is the song tracklist of the album, which is essential whether it is included on a Jewel Case or Digipak, as it is information the customer will need to know, otherwise they will have no idea what song they are listening to and what order the songs are in, which will create confusion and likely make many think of the artist in a bad way. The images I have included around the track list are pictures of rocks, which is relevant and relates back to the album title, which is "Rock Bottom". It is has been clearly organised and laid out well in a list type form, which simultaneously shows not only the songs on the album, but the order they play in. The title "Rock Bottom" is above and separate from the track list to show that it is the album title and to not confuse people that "Rock Bottom" is a track on the album, when it isn't.

Overall, this is useful as it creates an idea of what my real digipak will be like before creating it and also gives me an idea of what sort of pictures I will need to take and where I will need to go to take them when thinking of adding them to the digipak. Photoshop will not be needed much for me as special effects and abstract editing won't really be present in my digipak, however it can help change the colour filter to make the pictures look better. I feel I am now more aware of where I need to go to take images for my digipak, for example, the forest, due to properly planning it and also clearly setting ideas that I want to pursue in the creation of this digipak.

From receiving feedback from my target audience, I realised changes had to be made from my plan in order for it to be successful. The fan note has stayed mainly the same, with even the signature still included, except a direct mode of address photograph has been added to make the thank you note more personal. The graphics on the CD became an actual brick wall, which was used because it is seen many times throughout my digipak and my artist also performs against a brick wall in my music video. The front cover stayed mainly the same, apart from a guitar was included, as this supports conventions as it is the main instrument of the genre and gives fans a sneak peak into what the songs they will hear might sound like, heavily influenced by an acoustic guitar. The planned artwork of me under a tree changed to me against a brick wall playing with dark postalised editing effects. This was used to show my dark emotions to the audience to connect with them and add a diverse effect to keep them interested. The artwork of a guitar stayed basically the same, except that it was placed on a brick wall with a song lyric from the album on the page. The track list was also edited around a picture of the artist with a guitar, it looks more interesting and organised than before.

Storyboards

Storyboards were used to plan the filming of our music video and are vital in the planning process. It gives a clear idea of what will be in every shot, but not just the visuals, as you can see we have clearly stated the sound, editing and actors for example which will be in specific shots of the video. The small boxes above the scene descriptions were used for pictures to draw, to give a mock idea of what the actual scene would look like. Storyboards are vital, as attempting to film without them in place would mean we would just film spontaneously, our shots would be unorganised and messy and overall this would lead to a poor production.

Both our primary and secondary research we conducted was essential in not only finding out who our target audience would be and in general what indie fans want to see in a music video, but also, it is essential to help us plan our storyboards. Our primary research is vox pops and questionnaires, which we conducted ourselves first hand to gather opinions, whilst our secondary research is the research we have shown on our blogs and what we have discovered through mainly looking at the internet and other music videos. Our overall research helped us find many things that fans prefer to see in a music video and the sort of elements and conventions that were most popular. When it came to looking at our production, it helped us see what conventions people prefer to see, how they want the artist to be, what style of video they'd prefer and also the sort of special effects such as lighting included. We gathered that many like to see an indie music video have a strong narrative, usually with hard hitting narratives, which is exactly what we have incorporated in our storyboards, under the narrative description section, describing the purpose of certain shots and what they are meant to get across. Many expected the artist to be a relatable character that they could connect to, which is what we included mainly under iconography in our storyboards, as we put emphasis on facial expressions and also the clothes the artist is wearing, which aren't extravagant or flashy, they are meant to connote emotions, but are clothes that many can afford, making it relatable.

To "storyboard" our music video, we needed to include the shot duration, a mock visual of the shot, cinematography, actors, editing, sound, iconography, lighting, location and narrative description. The cinematography section is used to write down what type of shot the specific frame would be. This can feature specific shots such as a close-up, long shot or a two shot. It tells our group when filming also how to position the camera and the actors and iconography in the shot, what to include and also the style in which it is to be done.

We also included lighting. The lighting used in our production features high key, low key and natural key lighting. This tells us the effects we have to add in after filming to do with lighting, to show that storyboards don't just show what should happen on the days of filming, but also in the editing process too. Whilst low and high key lighting takes editing to incorporate, natural key relies on daylight and the "natural" scene hence the name, or natural darkness from it being night time and as our group will be filming scenes during the day and night time, natural key lighting will be present in both of it's forms.

The location of the scenes is also what we have included in our storyboards, as this is vital information, not only do we need to know where the specific shots will take place, but also this links with planning our filming schedule and is information we need to provide in completing that too. By writing the location on our story board, it tells us when will we need to be in certain places and also where, and helps organise ourselves to know what shots we need to be filming in a given location.

Iconography was also an important factor towards our storyboards. It tells us specifically not only the items and costumes we will need in specific frames, but also the facial expressions that the actors in specfic frames will need to show. Writing down the iconography in our storyboard prepares us for what props we need for going to film and what costumes the actors need to wear, it serves as a helpful reminder, keeps us organised and allows us to know where the iconography specifically appears.

The actors we have used in each shot is included in our storyboard, as it is vital to know who we need, what we need them for and when we need them. It also helps us know where we need them, as for example Tahir acts in the shots which are in his home, but he won't be needed for the liverpool street scenes, so there is no need to take him there, however me, Charlie and Tyler are all involved in the liverpool street scene and will all need to act, which means we all need to be there. This also helps our overall organisation, as it tells us specifically who we need at specific points and no confusion can be caused over bringing the wrong actors, because we have a storyboard in place.

The sound is included in our storyboard to show what the viewers will be hearing in our prodction. There is a very limited variety of sound in our music video, the only two appearences being when the artist speaks to the taxi driver right at the beginning of the video, which is digetic sound, and then shortly after the song plays, which will last the entire duration of the video and is noted in every frame, by referring to this as "song continues".

Although editing will not be done whilst filming our production, it will be a vital aspect of what makes our music video after filming, as we will add in special effects, transitions and other visuals to make our video more appealing and interesting. Although it can be argued that it is not essential to put in our storyboards as it is not used when we are filming, it is very important to include, as writing in the editing section in each frame allows us to know when and where to specifically use editing, what shots it must be included in and the type of editing we are going to use. Doing this avoids spontaneous unorganised editing that may ruin our production if we include it in the wrong places, which is what would likely happen if it wasn't included in our storyboards.

Lastly, the narrative description is a vital part of our storyboards. It tells us specifically what is actually going on not only in the shot, but also the narrative itself and as we gradually film more and more, referring to our storyboards will tell us how far we are into our narrative. It is essential and also very helpful, as without the narrative description in place, the storyboard boxes would not make much sense, and we wouldn't really know why we were filming shots and what their actual purpose was, however, providing a narrative description allows us to know why we are filming a certain shot, what it's purpose is and also what point of our narrative we are at.

Me and my group organised ourselves well when it came to storyboard planning and how we would sort out the responsibility amongst each other of doing this task. I filled in the most boxes and charlie filled in others that were needed, whilst tyler also contributed, but not as much. As choreographer, I came up with most of our shot ideas and what would appear in them, whilst providing additional narrative ideas. We used time in lesson and our free time outside of the lessons to fill in the boxes, also using time at home to do this, as we split 23 storyboard sheets between the three of us with Charlie and Tyler having 8 sheets and me having 7, but by this point most of the written part was done and we just had to draw images in the boxes of what would be a mock of what the given shot would look like. Me and Charlie decided that Tyler would have less of a workload when planning storyboards, as most of his work will come after filming, as he is the main person in charge of editing after production. As I am the choreographer, it makes sense that I fill in the most planning boxes as I would be planning the scenes at what could be in them, with Charlie by my side also passing across suggestions, as well as Tyler at some points.