Filming- 23/02/17

Thursday 23rd February- Filming 

Today I filmed the final scenes of my music video which included the party scenes, the lip-synching scenes and ultimately, the killing scenes. I had a little under 5 hours to prepare and film the rest of my video without mistakes that had to be refilled, as getting both my actors together on one day that was convenient for everybody would be a challenge to arrange again. I went to my local supermarket and bought typical party food such as pretzels and fairy cakes before venturing back to the rendezvous/filming location/where I live to meet with the actors and get make-up and costume sorted. 

After some practice with the vampire make-up, my protagonist was still unable to look in any way scary or resembling, and so it took only 10 minutes to complete the look of Mona the vampire (no relation).

Filming in storm Doris proved to have its difficulties: though there weren't many scenes I would have to film outside, I still had to be wary of the fact that if I had any kind of formal contract with these actors, surely making them stand out for an hour in the cold and rain would be a breach. 

Another challenge of filming in the late afternoon was the setting sun. I organised the filming to be shot in chronological order so that the last shots featured in the music video would have the darkest atmosphere (in natural lighting and in tone). The location in which I filmed has along window-wall, making it apparent when the outdoors are dark or light. This was the precise room where the 'party' scene was filmed, and so we adjusted the filming schedule to the ephemerality of the day time, a struggle comparable to almost all jobs and interactions and activities there are. 

Filming 10/02/17

Friday 10th February- Filming 

Today I filmed the first wave of footage with my trusted, underpaid and underrated actor, who was happy to oblige waking up at a remarkable hour (10:37 AM) to prepare make-up and costume for the day of filming. 

Starting as we mean to go on: in chronological order, we first filmed the waking up scene in the bedroom of our indoor location. I found an old black sheet which I utilised in my mise-en-scene to make the bed which the vampire wakes up in (or rather on) more strange and coffin-like. It took various tries to get a good take where my actor was able to sit up in a low angle shot where the DSLR would comply with her height and the light outside not interfering with the exposure. 

The social media scene came next, and in the days leading up to this filming day, my actors and I had been inviting people to the party event featured in the video and adding mutual friends via the false Facebook account i had set up for the character of Mona, the vampire (no relation). 

The indie audience

You're average indie:

• Likes Mac Demarco 
• Squints in the sun
• Stares at the separation between two strips of veneer on a coffee table
• Wears Kangol semi-ironically
• Will probably say 'thrift' rather than 'charity' shop

This is important as I will be trying to appeal to these self-proclaimed enigmas- I want to know where they congregate, how I can find them, and how I can make my music video appeal to them.

Storyboarding

Storyboarding- animatic examples

 Animatics are a method of presenting a storyboard whereby music is played over the top of a slideshow of the sketches, with the stills being in time with the music the same way in which the actual footage will be in final production. These are good for illustrating how a music video will look, and are also helpful for showing how much of the song your storyboard will actually cover. 

This is my animatic. I expect that I will make some changes or have to work around some differences on the days of filming but this is my rough guide to the music video I will be filming in February. 

CD Covers- convergence cultures

When analysing album covers:
Media forms
Institutions
Genre
Representation
Audience
Ideology
Narrative

Music is an aural art form, but the packaging for the recordings has a distinct aesthetic.

No binaries:
Hepworth (2011): in an article about the resurgence in vinyl record collecting, observes the hybrid, convergent nature of his-and fellow collectors'- preferences for how they consume music in the digital era.

People either want their music fast and portable or slow and cherished but often find a place for both. 'Slow and quick, portable and tangible' duality can be seen with the vinyl record. Many people keep their music in the cloud for quick access and preserved on vinyl for its cherished antique status. (Digipaks in vinyl records)

 

Asking audience

I will be handing out this questionnaire out to different people


Questionnaire

Age:

Gender:

Describe your music taste:

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Do you actively watch music videos?

Y/N

Name 3 artists you are currently listening to:

_________________________________________________________________________

Do you watch their music videos?

Y/N

If so, are there any running themes within the music videos (e.g. Blonde wig in Sia music videos)?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Name your favourite music video and why:

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Do you think music videos should provide more than just entertainment (e.g. political statement)?

Y/N

Why?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Here were the responses:

A common theme I've found amongst the questionnaires that I gave out was that a lot of people seem to acknowledge the power that music videos hold in pop culture today: this is illustrated through their circling of the 'Y' after the question : "Do you think music videos should provide more than just entertainment?" and also the qualitative answers which they give afterwards, such as "I think music [videos are] an easy and creative way of providing a widespread population with a message". 

Textual analysis of A2 music video

Textual analysis A2



The music video's pace is matched with the visuals, with the camera cuts increasing as the song progresses. In terms of the lyrics and the visuals, there is a high-angle shot repeated when the lyrics say "You're giving me the look" of the boy lying down looking up at the camera. Also with the lyrics "We're always in small circles" there is a superimposition over the subject of a spinning theme park ride going around in a circle to match the words. 

The song is calm and melancholy which is matched by the location of the music video, on a bright day on a shore with saturated colours of blue, green and yellow. The music video is solely a performance piece and appears to have no intended meaning encoded within the text- so in terms of Hall's reception theory, a preferred reading from the audience simple to achieve in this music video.  

The music video begins with a tilt up shot of the tide on a sunny beach with a simplistic thin font in sans. This fits with Goodwin's 'Genre conventions' of a music video as the song is a low-key electronic song which has an arpeggio tone (light and upbeat). 

The editing shows different shots to slide into 
view, and the editor uses this technique to show the progression through the day from the beach during the day to the theme park in the night.