World Of My Blog.

Evaluation Of Tasks.

Question 1:

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?


I chose to work in a group of 3, this, in my opinion gave us a good chance at succeeding throughout this coursework, as there were 3 brains throughout the whole process and this meant we could divide up tasks and work together to get things done more quickly. This is relevant to the conventions of a real media product, for example, when a band is making a music video, there are many people involved, nearly always more than 3, as we have discovered, it is a large and difficult task, it does take a lot of time and a lot of thought. As a group, we decided to use a song called Charlotte by a relatively unknown band called Air Traffic, it is a catchy, indie/rock song, and that type of music genre is very popular. We chose to aim our video at late teens to early twenties, as they, stereotypically, tend to be very into music and it also makes it easier for us to plan for, as my group are in that age bracket too. To start off with, we all separately looked at different artist's, such as newer bands like Florence and The Machine, Lady GaGa, Twin Atlantic, The Cribs, The Script, The Maccabees, The XX, Two Door Cinema Club, OK Go and Biffy Clyro, to older classics like Oasis, AC/DC, The Beatles and Blur. We analysed their Digipak's, Websites and Music Videos. During our research, we decided to make an Advert rather than a Website, so we then researched Adverts. We did this research to get an idea as to how they are produced, what features on them and how each genre of music comes across within each video/digipak/advert. As we all researched different bands, this gave us a broader idea as to what went into different genres and what made a good Video, Advert and Digipak, it also allowed us to explore what conventions indie/rock music videos/digipak's/adverts follow.
For example, a Digipak must include; An album name, A band name, Bar code and A Track list on the back cover, an Advert must include; Release date, Band name and an Album name, and a Music Video can basically be of anything, it can directly link to the lyrics, or it can be completely abstract, and example of this is OK Go's video for Here We Go Again.
Forms on an Indie/Rock music video consist of what is deemed as 'indie' clothing, we found out what people thought this consisted of in our questionnaire research, people consider; skinny jeans, long hair (on boys) shirts, polo tops and cardigans as 'indie' clothing. So to meet the requirements of an Indie/Rock music video, and taking mise-en-scene into consideration, we have our characters dress in an 'indie' style to fit with our genre. The song is played on a guitar, so throughout our video we have included shots of a guitar, still in one scene and being played in others, it is not in every scene as this would be too predictable. Many Music Videos are of the artist singing and performing, which is entertaining, but it can get quite dull, this is why we've opted for a more story lined video, our story line may be slightly difficult to follow, but really, it is just a basic story of a boy and a girl, the boy has been hurt and has moved on to a girl he likes, she doesn't like him at first but he carries on trying and eventually he wins her over and she realises how much she likes him. This also fits in with our indie theme, as most indie/rock songs are about love and emotions, this is a very emotive and empathising music video and story line. There are also some direct links to lyrics within our music video, this is not necessary within music videos, but when carrying out our questionnaires we found out that our target audience preferred a visual and lyrical link. I feel that we have succeeded in creating an Indie/Rock music video, but we have gone against the current and changed the conventions ever so slightly, by not using the singer in the video and leaving the video in colour, rather than a typical grey scale, we have given the video an edge, which is necessary to stand out from the crowd. Our Video is about a young male, who is struggling with love, he starts off almost torn between 3 friends, 2 of which he struggles to get over, and the get over them he burns their photographs and moves on to the third girl. He then follows this girl everywhere, trying his best to convince her to like him, but at first she's not interested, but as the story and time progresses she realises she does like him, but by then it seems too late, so as any girl does to cheer herself up, she gets her friends round and they order a pizza. When the doorbell goes as the pizza is delivered, the girl goes to open the door, and the boy is standing there with the pizza in hand. The video ends with her kissing him on the cheek, this allows the audience to make up their own minds as to what happens next, and I like that element of uncertainty, I think it's good to get the audience thinking.
In real media products, Record Labels would request their need for close ups of either the artist or something like a motif that reoccurs across their work, developing a visual style along with a brand. In our video, as it is not the artist appearing in the video, the guitar is our recurring motif thus creating our brand and identity. Taking mise-en-scene into consideration, along with continuity, our Music Video also links in with our Digipak and Advert, as the front cover of our Digipak is of a boy walking down a cobbled street, and on the left hand side of the picture there is a green park featuring trees, in our video we filmed using the same location, this allows small references from the video to the album and advert as the same trees are in the shots. We filmed many shots in Tynemouth and Monkseaton, as they have a vintage, individual feel to them and have so much history behind them, which makes them such interesting and beautiful places to film. We also filmed within a house, that has been decorated in a vintage, but still modern, fashion.
The original music video for 'Charlotte' is very quirky and jumpy, it keeps you interested but lacks a story line, we took the existing product into account when creating our own video, as we wanted to do the song justice, but make it individual, thus, we made up a story line that can be related to, and we used shots when filming that will keep the viewer interested when watching.
To film on, we had a high tech, digital, hand held camera, it is small and compact, this allowed us to take it everywhere with us with ease and film scenes on demand. We used an Apple Mac to edit our music video, with iMovie as our specific programme. This high tech, up to date software allowed us to get our music video to the highest quality we could. In real media products they would use similar programmes, and because of this we feel as if our Music Video is of a quite high standard. Of course, with more time, more planning, and top range equipment we could produce and outstanding Music Video, but as this is the first time I have filmed and edited a Music Video I am extremely pleased with the results and feel it challenges the forms and conventions real life media productions.

These are some print screens of the shots I am extremely happy with. This shot shows the boy burning the first photograph, this shot opens up the music video, and I personally think that it works as an opening shot as it makes the audience question what he is doing and what he is thinking. I like the composition of this shot and its depth.

            

I like this shot as I think the camera angle is very good, and it has worked well, there are three girls in this video, and as a hint to the number 3, you can see the girl three times in this one shot, herself, and her two reflections.

I like the depth of focus within this shot, as she walks past him for the first time, and the expression of love and passion on his face as he sees her.

I like the panning of this shot, you cannot see this in the screen shot, but this sums it up, it is a lovely establishing shot of Tynemouth, whilst the camera watches the boy approach the girl for the first time.

I think this over the shoulder shot is a fantastic shot and has worked very well, it gives depth and draws the audiences eyes inwards.

 I like this shot as it shows the reoccurring brand, the guitar, and it is the second time the girl walks away from the boy.

This shot, and scene, in my opinion, is the best in the video, there is such depth and different focal points, which makes it incredibly interesting, in the sense of the story, the audience can see that the boy is trying so hard by this point to win her over.

This is the establishing shot of the metro going past, it isn't the best scene, but story wise, this is when the girl starts to realise that she likes this boy, which is a major advance in the story.

I like this scene as the girl is innocently ringing for a pizza to be delivered, she is unaware of the guitar in front of her, and the guitar again shows a reoccurring brand and theme throughout.

I like this shot as the camera is slightly tilted up towards the boy, and it is an over the shoulder shot of him ringing the doorbell to the house.

This is one of the last shots of the video, they are looking into each others eyes as she knows now that she likes him and he is smiling back, story wise this is a very happy ending.






Question 2:
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?


When we were planning and creating our ancillary tasks and our main product, we were aware we needed a clear theme throughout, so to achieve this we made sure that we created a band logo that was effective, eye catching, and quirky. We succeeded in this, as we created a logo that not only represented and stated the band name, it also linked to our album title, and our British, vintage theme. This logo was to be used within our Digipak and our Advert.
The Digipak consisted of six different images, all shot in Tynemouth, the same location that a lot of our music video was shot, this creates a link between the Video and the Digipak. Three out of the six Digipak images were changed to grey scale, then had a part of the photograph changed back to colour, two images had red put back into them, the girl's hair, and the classic Mini, the Mini also represents Britain as it is a 1995 Mini which is a stereotypical British car. The third image had green placed back into the grass to draw attention in as it looked flat when just in grey scale. The two images located in the centre of the Digipak were changed to grey scale then lightened and drained again so they were completely faded, as we wanted to allow the Track names and the CD to stand out. The front cover is the only image that is fully in colour, however, the contrast and brightness have been heightened so the most vivid part of the photograph is in fact the grass on the left hand side of the photo, this links in with the other image that also has green grass. The colour green is also a very British colour, and that is why we have included it in our theme, along with red, blue, white and black for contrast.
Our Advert is primarily made up of the Digipak front cover, this is to allow the brand the get known, as it is a debut album, a fan may see the Advert, and as the Digipack cover is the same, they will be able to recognise it quicker. As the Digipak cover is small, and square, the Advert has been blurred upwards, making it almost A4 size and thus making it look more like a poster or an advert, it adds to the advert and balances it out, dragging your eye line over the entire advert. This means that there is a bit more depth to the advert as there isn't just a flat banner going across the image. The band logo is shown on the bottom right hand corner, it is small and slightly unnoticeable, but we didn't want it any bigger as we didn't want to take focus away from the image and the text. As I have said previously in my blog, The main point of an advert is to get the audience interested, to let them know who the album is by, what it is called and when it will be released. As it is a debut album, the band name must stand out so they become well known.
Overall the advert works well as an Advert, it states the release date, album name, and most importantly, the band name. The advert has the same text throughout, we have used a serif font to continue the vintage feel, but we changed the sizes of the font to draw attention and add depth, we wanted to use white or black text instead of red or blue, as black and white text stand out and add contrast. However we wanted to add the red and blue in somewhere else so that it matched our theme, as red is featured previously in our Digipak, and we are using semiotics to explain why we have chosen red and blue, as red and blue are both considered symbols of hot and cold, for example, the colours on a tap. This helped us to decide to put a faded black background and add the white text because it contrasts better and stands out well. The red stripe also offsets the red of the band logo, which makes the band logo blend within the advert,

The album name also links to the story within the music video, as the girl is cold towards the boy at the beginning, she doesn't want to know him and then she starts warming to him and she starts to notice him and starts to actually like him, their relationship develops over time.

The colours within the advert fit in with our 'British' and 'Vintage' colour scheme, the image has had the contrast and brightness altered, which changed the figure who is walking away on the cover to a darkened silhouette, adding emotion, moodiness and possible loneliness, as he is on his own. However, there are still splashes of colour shown, Red, Green and Blue, which are colours mainly associated with Britain.

Our Music Video blends into our theme as well, as it has been filmed in a vintage fashion, using the same locations that have featured in the Digipak and Advert, thus creating a visual link between all three tasks. During the editing process we altered the contrast and brightness of the clips once they were in order, just like we did with the front cover of the Digipak, this also helps the Music Video fit with the genre and theme of our brand. Another thing that links the Digipak to the Video is the Mini that is featured on the Digipak, there is a small clip of the Mini in the back ground as the boy delivers pizza to the girls house. The music video could be linked more however, our original idea was to place the band logo into shots every so often, on to day to day items, like a shopping bag, the tea pot at the beginning of the video or even on the guitar, unfortunately we could not figure out how to do this.

Overall I believe the combination of our two ancillary tasks and our main project if very good, of course, with anything in life, there is always room for improvement, but due to our skill levels and knowledge, I am thoroughly happy with the outcome.

Question 3:
What have you learned from your audience feedback?

To thoroughly plan and research what we wanted to do for all our tasks, we had to come up with a way of asking our target audience what they would expect to see, what they thought of our initial ideas and what their opinions were, so we came up with questionnaires for each task and handed them out to 10 people, we only got 8 questionnaires back so we used the results from these questionnaires. The feedback we got from our target audience and others is vitally important, as it allows us to improve if need be and tailor it to their exact wants and needs.
For our Digipak questionnaire, we asked our target audience their age and gender, to find out exactly what they'd like to see in a Digipak. We also asked what their music tastes were, to find out which genre of music is most popular. We asked how many songs they would expect to see and what colour schemes they think would fit best. We have decided to make the Digipak for an Indie singer, so we asked what colour scheme would fit this genre best and also what clothes they would expect a singer of this genre to wear.

The results we got were incredibly helpful, as everyone who responded was in our target audience age group, this allowed us to see exactly what our target audience expected from us for our Digipak. The answers allowed us to alter our initial ideas and our colour schemes, they also made us think about the clothing they would have to wear, made us think if our song was acceptable, we had to choose other tracks to go on the Digipak, and we found out how many our target audience expected and we took that on board.
As we were originally planning to create a website for our band we made a questionnaire for our website, and again got good feedback, however, as we decided to create an Advert, we didn't make a questionnaire for it, instead we used the same results we acquired from our Digipak questionnaire.
For our Music Video we asked our target audience their age and gender, to find out exactly what they'd like to see in a music video. We asked them about their favourite music video's and whether they would like to see a real life video, or a video full of special effects. We also asked whether they would like a slow paced music video, or a fast paced one, and which colour scheme it should have; grey scale or colour.
The results we got were incredibly helpful, as everyone who responded was in our target audience age group, this again allowed us to see exactly what our audience expected from us for our Video. We found out what their opinion was of a 'good video', we found out that most people preferred colour videos to grey scale, and we took that on board too, as originally our music video was going to be in grey scale. We asked about the pace of video and whether they liked special effects or not, this allowed us to edit our music video to the exact responses that we received, thus making our tasks appealing to our target audiences. Because of the feedback we received, we were able to make alterations, and throughout the course of the task, when something needed to be tweaked, edited or changed, we had to think about our feedback before doing such changes. The questionnaire results showed that the target audience preferred a simple storyline, with no lip syncing and little or no animations throughout, we succeeded in making a video up to their expectations as we kept the video simple and realistic, with a storyline that can easily be related too. The characters were consistent and well explained throughout the video, and the way the Video was filmed gave it the punk/indie/vintage edge that we wanted, as apposed to filming it on a steady camera on a tripod, we opted for a held held camera that made it more 'real life'. This also proved popular in our feedback, so overall I believe our feedback helped us produce work to the expected standard.

'Viewer 1:
Positive: The video has a very good story line throughout, it is easy to follow and is entertaining. There is a clever use of different locations throughout the video which makes it interesting and shows good organisation skills and planning. Also, there is a good interaction between actors.
Negative: end of the video isn't as captivating as the first 80%, as it moves to hastily.'
'Viewer 2:

My favourite bit is the bit with the guitar. The only flaw is when there are quick chord progressions while Martin is quite clearly not playing it, despite being in full shot. That's by the washing line, when the camera's behind him.

It's decent: there's a storyline that makes enough sense (the one with Martin and Katie) and then Becky and Sarah keep turning up for next to no reason, which actually fits a music video completely. (Actually, I'm sure the entire thing makes sense to someone, but, as a regular audience type of guy, I didn't get it. I guess he's split up with someone, hence the burning photos?)
Anyway, I'm not even talking just recent music videos where there's a storyline and then just randomness. Take Abba's stuff. They'd have a nice storyline, (Agnetha walking around her empty house in One of Us, for example) peppered with the rest of the band turning up to sing a line or two. After all, there's no way you could have had Katie walking past Martin playing guitar for the entire thing, unless the song was The Police's I'll Be Watching You, but that's a completely different message.'

These are two responses I received after the Music Video had been viewed. Overall, the feedback is quite positive, however, there has been some constructive criticism that I will take on board and bare in mind the next time I am producing a piece of work similar to this. I have learned that when coming up with a storyline for a music video, keep it simple and interesting so the audience don't get distracted or lose interest. I have also learnt that it is important to keep the camera as steady as possible to make the video as professional as possible. I also realise that when shooting a scene where a guitar is being played, that it is important for the guitar to be playing the right notes for continuity and precision.

Question 4:
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?


New media products were vitally important for the construction, planning and research into our Music Video. The Internet help us vastly throughout our research, as we were able to view different album covers, different music videos and different adverts, from many different sites, like YouTube, Myspace and Google. The Internet also allowed us to do background research into the band's websites for ideas for our Advert, Website and Digipak, it also allowed us to view the band's video's on their website, which was vital for us when gather images for us to then analyse. It also let us compare our ideas to the real life products, which challenged us to develop conventions to make sure they were just right. The Internet also allowed us to get our final Music Video onto our blog, as it was a large file, which meant we had to upload it to YouTube, then use the 'embed' code to paste into our blogs so the music video was viewable. And of course, all our work, effort, planing and research has been stored and posted onto this blog, which again, is on the Internet, and without this new form of media, we wouldn't be able to document all of our work.
For our planning and research we used Microsoft Office Programmes such as Microsoft Word, for the questionnaires, Microsoft Excel, for the questionnaire findings and to make pie charts with my results, Microsoft PowerPoint, to create presentations displaying my results and findings and Microsoft Publisher, for the production of the Digipak.
To create our music video we used a Camcorder, which allows you to film clips which can then be put and edited together to create a video. We decided against using a tripod, to create a more edgy effect and this worked well within our video. As a group, we took turns to film and edit scenes, so that if was a joint effort, we also all had different levels of knowledge about different programmes which we combined together to create our video to the best of our ability. We used a digital camera to take pictures for our Digipak, then used Macromedia Fireworks 8, which I have an extensive knowledge on, this programme allowed us to change the colours of our images, remove and re-add splashes of colour, we changed the brightness and contrast levels to get the images exactly the way we wanted them. 

 This shows the development of our logo, I created it using Macromedia Fireworks 8, this is a software that I have a great knowledge in, this previous knowledge allowed me to create a logo for our brand to a very high standard.

 This screen shot shows me adding the text to the image, rotating each letter so it fit with the swirls coming out of the tea pot and blended in nicely.

This is the finished edit of the logo, I am very pleased with the way it looks, as it looks very professional.

We edited our video on a programme called iMovie. This was a new programme to me, as it features on Apple Macs. I found it very easy to use and it is top of the range software, the programme allowed use to cut scenes down, place them in the order we wished, remove background noise, altered the contrast and brightness levels, and fit the clips to the song.

This is a print screen of us using iMovie, the software that we edited on. I had never used iMovie before, so this was a great experience, I feel that i have learnt a lot of knowledge from using this programme, and look forward to using it again in the future. This programme allowed us to seemlessly blend our clips together, we added 'black fade' in between each scene, to show the different separations and the different scene changes. We also were able to alter the brightness and contrast levels within each clip, this allowed us to keep the colour scheme the same throughout. We also managed to get rid of the background noise within our shots, this made the video more professional, as we were able to then add the song over the top of the clips. This programme also allowed us to cut bits of scenes out by selecting and deleting bits we didn't want or need, as we had a lot of footage that we needed to trim down to fit the song length.
To get the files off the camera and onto the computer to edit, we used a USB lead which allowed us to transfer all the clips from the camcorder to the computer. The files were in the wrong format to begin with so we had to use a programme called Handbrake which converted the files to the right format so we could put them into iMovie.

Finished Music Video.

This is our finished music video.
It was put together and edited on iMovie.
During the editing process we moved/changed certain scenes around and cut out scenes to get the video just the way we wanted it. The video is 2:19 minutes long, and has been filmed in a sort of bumpy, rough way, as we decided not to use a tripod and filmed on a hand held camera, we believe this gives the video more of an edgy look, which fits in with the style of music and gives it a vintage feel. When filming scenes that required the camera moving, we chose to either zoom in or walk with the characters holding the camera, as we did not have the funds to purchase a tracking dolly.
During editing we changed the brightness and contrast levels to allow certain colours within the scenes to stand out more vividly than others, this allowed us to keep the same theme throughout our Video, Digipak and Advert.
Over the introduction, the video starts off with our male main character, the boy, throwing a photograph of a girl into the fire, the camera then gets close to the picture that is burning, we feel that this is an interesting part of the video as it creates a sense of wonder and makes the audience think 'why is he burning that photograph?'. In our opinion, as the writers of the script, we believe he is burning the photograph as if to forget about the girl in question, as it is a sense of closure. After the boy burns the first photograph, the camera cuts to a short 4 second clip of the girl from the photograph getting out of bed at the start of the day, the transition at the end of this clip is called 'page curl' as it looks like the clip is being curled back from the top right corner.
This scene is repeated twice with a different photograph of another girl, again the camera zooms in showing him burning the photograph, the camera then cuts to that same girl putting her make up on, this is the second stage of getting ready in the morning, the 'page curl' transmission was used to end this clip too.
The camera then cuts back to the boy staring at the last photograph and smiling, this shows him moving on as he has found someone he likes the look of, the camera then shows that same girl pouring herself a cup of tea out of a teapot (as she is in the 3rd stage of getting ready in the morning), this is a direct link to the band name. As the girl is being film during this, the camera is at a cantered angle, a cantered angle shows that there's something different about this shot and draws the audience in.
When the lyrics start, the boy is sitting on a bench in a park in Tynemouth, as the singer sings 'Just let it pass you by' the girl walks past the boy, this is a direct link to the lyrics and starts off the video.
On the whole, this video does give the feeling that boy is a bit of a stalker, which we have noticed, but we want the audience to feel that he is persevering with his quest to find love.
When the lyrics change to 'Each and every day' the scene is meant to be of a different day from the introduction, making a slight link. The boy walks up the stairs of Collingwood's Monument where the scene was shot, the camera zooms in on the girls face as she smiles at the boy, the camera switches to him smiling back, the camera then cuts to an over the shoulder shot as the girl stands up and walks away, the camera then cuts to a close up shot of the boy's sad face, which makes the audience feel empathy for the boy.
The next scene is of the girl walking out of a shop, and the boy is leaning against the nearby wall playing guitar, she smiles as she walks past him, but doesn't stop to talk to him, so he just watches her walk past. This type of scene is starting to create a bit of suspense as the audience may be wondering what's going on and if they are going to get together.
The next scene start off with the boy sitting on his own, on a wall playing guitar, this shows loneliness and again creates empathy that hopefully the audience can relate too. The girl walks past him again, this time without noticing him, she acts as if he isn't there, and again, he just watches her walk past.
The video then rapidly cuts to the girl taking down a bed sheet in her garden, the boy is standing behind the bed sheet, this is an example of good camera work however, as over the shoulder shots have been used which makes the scene interesting, professional and personal as it is a point of view shot almost, the audience can actually feel that they are there. Instead of talking to the boy, the girl just smiles and walks towards the house, thus leaving the boy sad and deflated as he is trying so hard to win her over.
The next scene starts with the boy standing on the metro platform, looking both ways to see if the metro is coming, the camera the cuts to the girl who looks shocked and slightly pleased to see him, so she stands up, the camera then cuts to the metro going past and as it disappears, he's not on the platform anymore, the girl then sits back down looking sad, she has realised that she does like the boy, but is thinking it may be too late, she's ignored his efforts for so long, so she sits back down on the bench.
The next scene is where the girl has invited her friends over, to cheer her up, she opens the door to them as the arrive, and the next part was mainly free hand and unscripted, we wanted to create a 'girls night in' effect and wanted it to be as if the girls in the video were filming it themselves, making it more candid and natural.
The camera then slowly cuts to the girl on the phone, ordering a pizza with a menu in her hand, there is a guitar in the shot, fitting in with the theme and the genre of music, also creating a reoccurring brand.
After the girl orders the pizza, the camera cuts to an outdoors, shot of the boy ringing the doorbell, it is an over the shoulder shot that is slightly tilted upwards, as if the audience are looking up to him. The girl then answers the door, and as she sees the boy she smiles, the camera quickly cuts to him smiling back then handing her the pizza and stepping through the door. The girl takes the pizza off him and smiles, the camera then cuts to a side view of both the boy and the girl looking intently at each other, the girl then kisses the boy on the cheek and the video ends, leaving the audience to make up their own minds as to what happens next.


Audience Feedback:

Viewer 1:
Positive: The video has a very good story line throughout, it is easy to follow and is entertaining. There is a clever use of different locations throughout the video which makes it interesting and shows good organisation skills and planning. Also, there is a good interaction between actors.
Negative: end of the video isn't as captivating as the first 80%, as it moves to hastily.

Viewer 2:

My favourite bit is the bit with the guitar. The only flaw is when there are quick chord progressions while Martin is quite clearly not playing it, despite being in full shot. That's by the washing line, when the camera's behind him.

It's decent: there's a storyline that makes enough sense (the one with Martin and Katie) and then Becky and Sarah keep turning up for next to no reason, which actually fits a music video completely. (Actually, I'm sure the entire thing makes sense to someone, but, as a regular audience type of guy, I didn't get it. I guess he's split up with someone, hence the burning photos?)
Anyway, I'm not even talking just recent music videos where there's a storyline and then just randomness. Take ABBA's stuff. They'd have a nice storyline, (Agnetha walking around her empty house in One of Us, for example) peppered with the rest of the band turning up to sing a line or two. After all, there's no way you could've had Katie walking past Martin playing guitar for the entire thing, unless the song was The Police's I'll Be Watching You, but that's a completely different message.

In terms of shots and technical stuff like that (so, shooting...), I find it's generally easy to follow. The panning at Collingwood is brilliant, but to pick a place that's not quite so easy to make sense of for a non-Geordie is in the Metro Station, where there's no shot to establish where the bench is in relation to the metro, and, incidentally, Martin. That said, anyone with half a brain would work it out, so it's not that big a deal.
 I liked it, overall, and that's despite really not liking that song, so well done!
Regards.

Slight Change Of Plan...

Due to the fact that we live in England, and the weather here is incredibly tempremental, we had a few problems due to some unexpected snow in early December. This meant that it was awkward and pretty much impossible for us to meet up and film, as public transport was off and locations were affected by this. Various members of our group have also fallen ill which made it difficult for us to stay on target and keep up to date with our filming and editing. This means that we have to work especially hard with the time we have left to keep up to deadlines.

The unfortunate weather conditions also meant that our original cast member, Tom, was unavailable to film, therefore our friend Martin will be our male lead character and Katie and I will swap roles, as the characters are better suited.

The continuity of the video also poses as a problem, as some scenes have been filmed with snow shown, and some scenes have been filmed once the snow had melted. This however, may work as an advantage to show the passing of time within our story.

Edited Script.

SCRIPT FOR MUSIC VIDEO: 

SCENE 1:

Low lighting, full shot of the fireplace bearing a burning fire. Morning time.

INDOORS.

Mid shot of young man (named Martin) sitting on the floor, holding a photograph of three girls.

Martin is wearing casual clothing, T-shirt, cardigan and jeans.

The girls in the photo graphs are wearing:

Girl 1 – Sarah: Black dress and heels.

Girl 2 – Becky: Stripy skirt and heels.

Girl 3 - Katie: Dress and heels.

Camera then cuts to a close up of the photograph, then zooms out to a mid shot of Martin tearing one side of the photograph off, tearing away one of the girls in the photo (Sarah). The camera cuts to a close up of the torn off part before zooming back out to a mid shot where Martin is throwing the torn off part into the fire. The camera gets a close up of the picture burning.

Camera then cuts to a close up of the remaining photograph, then zooms out to a mid shot of Martin tearing one side of the photograph off, tearing away one of the girls in the photo (Becky). The camera cuts to a close up of the torn off part before zooming back out to a mid shot where Martin is throwing the torn off part into the fire. The camera gets a close up of the picture burning.

Camera gets a mid shot of Martin looking at the remaining image (Katie), zooms in to a close of up of the image then zooms back out to a mid shot of Martin pinning it to the fireplace.

SCENE 2:

Bright lighting. Morning time.

INDOORS.

Girl 1 – Sarah: leopard print pjs bottoms, slipper socks and a white vest top.

Girl 2 – Becky: tartan pjs and a white top.

Girl 3 – Katie: pink and white pjs.

Act  1:

Close up of girl 1 (Sarah) asleep and starting to wake up, camera cuts to a Full length shot of girl 1 (Sarah) getting out of bed.         4 seconds

Act  2:

Mid shot of girl 2 (Becky) putting on makeup in the mirror, camera shows her profile and her reflection in the mirror as she applies blusher and admiring her appearance.         4 seconds

Act 3:

Full length shot of girl 3 (Katie) pouring tea from a tea pot into a china cup, camera cuts to a mid shot of her doing this, focusing mainly on the tea pot which bears the Tom and the Tea Pots logo.         4 seconds

SCENE 3:

Morning time. Daylight.

OUDOORS – PARK IN TYNEMOUTH.

Martin: Black coat, black jeans, casual shoes.

Girl 3 – Katie: casual wear, skirt, tights and coat.

Act 1:

Martin is sitting on a bench playing guitar. The camera focuses to the right, with Martin sitting on the bench on the right hand side of the screen. Full length shot, getting Martin, his guitar and the bench on the screen. Girl 3 – Katie, walks along the path, camera watches her walk past, but remains still, with Martin still on screen, watching her walk past.

Act 2:

Afternoon ish. Daylight.

OUTDOORS – COLLINGWOODS MONUMENT.

Camera is at a low angle looking up at Girl 3 – Katie sitting on the steps at the top of Collingwood’s monument, reading a book which bears the Tom and the Teapots logo.

Camera cuts to an Over the Shoulder shot at a high angle, looking down on Martin who is walking up the steps whilst playing guitar. Camera holds this position until he reaches Girl 3 –Katie.

Camera cuts to a point of view shot from Martin’s eye line as he watches Girl 3 – Katie walk back down the stairs.

Act 3:

Afternoon ish. False Light.

INDOORS – SUPERMARKET.

Girl 3 – Katie is at the supermarket buying groceries. The camera get a full length shot from behind, getting the isle, groceries, her and the trolley in the shot.

Mid shot from a side view of Girl 3 – Katie bending over to get something, camera follows her doing this, and when she looks back to the trolley.

Afternoon ish. Daylight.

OUTDOORS – OUTSIDE MILLS.

Full length shot, getting the exit doors in and the general scenery in - an establishing shot – as Girl 3 – Katie walks out with her shopping. Martin is stood against the wall playing guitar, Girl 3 – Katie turns her head and looks at him, this will be an over the shoulder mid shot, getting Girl 3 – Katie turning her head and Martin playing guitar.

Act 4:

Evening. Daylight.

OUTDOORS. WALKING HOME DOWN A STREET.

Girl 3 – Katie is walking home down a street, Martin is walking behind her, full length shot, with a depth of focus, focusing on both Girl 3 – Katie and Martin, with Girl 3 – Katie in the foreground and Martin in the background.

Act 5:

Evening. Daylight.

OUTDOORS. BACK GARDEN.

Girl 3 – Katie is unclipping the washing. Over the shoulder side view shot of Girl 3 – Katie unclipping washing off the washing line. Martin is standing behind the washing.

As Girl 3 – Katie takes down the second bed sheet the camera switches a mid shot side view, getting both Girl 3 – Katie and Martin on screen, with the sheet in between.

Camera cuts to a mid shot of Martin playing guitar and smiling.

Camera then cuts to a mid shot of Girl 3 – Katie smiling back, then picking up the basket of dry washing and walking back into the house.

Act 6:

The Next Day.

Morning. Daylight.

OUTDOORS. WALKING DOG IN A PARK, TYNEMOUTH.

Martin: Black coat, black jeans, casual shoes.

Girl 3 – Katie: casual wear, skirt, tights and a different coat.

Act 7:

Later that day.

Evening – tea time. Daylight.

OUTDOORS. TYNEMOUTH METRO STATION.

Full length shot of Girl 3 – Katie sitting on the bench in the metro, straight on shot. Camera cuts to an over the shoulder, establishing shot of the empty platform, a train then goes past, and Martin appears on the platform.

Camera cuts back to Girl 3 – Katie standing up as she sees Martin.

Camera cuts back to another metro going past, and as the metro disappears, Martin has gone.

Camera cuts back to a shot of Girl 3 – Katie sitting back down as she realises he’s not there.

SCENE 4:

Act 1:

Later that day.

Evening – tea time. Night time.

INDOORS. NIGHT TIME.

Girl 1 – Sarah: warm clothing.

Girl 2 – Becky: warm clothing.

Girl 3 – Katie: warm clothing.

Girls 1, 2 and 3 separately walking into Becky’s House.

Full length shot. Camera is behind Girl 2 – Becky as she walks down her hall to answer the door to Girl 1 – Sarah. Girl 2 – Becky opens the door and Girl 1 – Sarah is standing there, camera cuts to an over the shoulder shot showing part of Girl 1 – Sarah and Girl 2 – Becky’s faces. Girl 1 – Sarah then walks into the house and the camera follows them both walking into the living room.

Full length shot. Camera is behind Girl 2 – Becky as she walks down her hall to answer the door to Girl 3 – Katie. Girl 2 – Becky opens the door and Girl 3 – Katie is standing there, camera cuts to an over the shoulder shot showing part of Girl 3 – Katie and Girl 2 – Becky’s faces. Girl 3 – Katie then walks into the house and the camera follows them both walking into the living room.

Act 2:

Evening – tea time. Night time.

INDOORS. NIGHT TIME.

Girl 1 – Sarah: warm clothing.

Girl 2 – Becky: warm clothing.

Girl 3 – Katie: warm clothing.

Martin – black clothing.

Girls 1, 2 and 3 are in Becky’s Living Room.

All the girls are sitting in the Living room. All done on a handheld camera, in a real life motion, unscripted. With Girl 1 – Sarah, Girl 2 – Becky and Girl 3 – Katie in the shots.

Camera cuts to a mid shot of Girl 3 – Katie using the phone to ring for a pizza, she is holding a menu in her hand and talking into the phone.

Camera cuts to a full length shot of Girl 3 – Katie getting off the sofa, walking through the Living Room door, along the hall towards the door. The camera follows her at a full length angle, panning alongside her.

Camera cuts to an over the shoulder mid shot, over Girl 3 – Katie’s shoulder as she opens the door, as she opens the door Martin is stand there with a pizza in hand. Martin then walks through the door towards Girl 3 – Katie and the camera is at a side angle showing both their profiles as they look at each other.

We have made various changes to our script, certain scenes have been cut due to time restraints and transport  issues, some acts within scenes didn't work as well as hoped and shots had to be slightly altered to fit the continuity so the video flows well.

Scene 3 - Act 3 was cut from the music video, as it was not appropriate to film within a supermarket, instead we filmed the girl coming out of the shop, with the boy sitting on the nearby wall playing guitar.

Instead of using a guitar in some shots, we left it out and in one scene we replaced it with a book.

Instead of the scene where the girl is walking the dog, we simply had the girl and boy walking, with the girl following the boy this time, this shows her interest in him.

Instead of the scene with the girls walking down the stairs, we have used the door to the house as the girls arrive separately.

We changed the ending of the video from scenes on the beach, to scenes in a house, due to weather conditions and lack of transport. Instead of having a fire on the beach, the girls have a small get together in the house and order pizza, the boy turns up with the pizza and the girl kisses him on the cheek as she has realised she likes him.

We also changed who was to play our characters, due to clashing plans and transport issues.

Script For Music Video.

SCRIPT FOR MUSIC VIDEO:

SCENE 1:

Low lighting, full shot of the fireplace bearing a burning fire. Morning time.

INDOORS.

Mid shot of young man (named Tom) sitting on the floor, holding a photograph of three girls.

Tom is wearing casual clothing, T-shirt, cardigan and jeans.

The girls in the photo graphs are wearing:

Girl 1 – Sarah: Black dress and heels.

Girl 2 – Katie: Stripy skirt and heels.

Girl 3 - Becky: Dress and heels.

Camera then cuts to a close up of the photograph, then zooms out to a mid shot of Tom tearing one side of the photograph off, tearing away one of the girls in the photo (Sarah). The camera cuts to a close up of the torn off part before zooming back out to a mid shot where Tom is throwing the torn off part into the fire. The camera gets a close up of the picture burning.

Camera then cuts to a close up of the remaining photograph, then zooms out to a mid shot of Tom tearing one side of the photograph off, tearing away one of the girls in the photo (Katie). The camera cuts to a close up of the torn off part before zooming back out to a mid shot where Tom is throwing the torn off part into the fire. The camera gets a close up of the picture burning.

Camera gets a mid shot of Tom looking at the remaining image, zooms in to a close of up of the image then zooms back out to a mid shot of Tom pinning it to the fireplace.

SCENE 2:

Bright lighting. Morning time.

INDOORS.

Girl 1 – Sarah: leopard print pjs bottoms, slipper socks and a white vest top.

Girl 2 – Katie: pink and blue cow pjs.

Girl 3 - Becky: tartan pj bottoms, socks and a white top.

Act  1:

Close up of girl 1 (Sarah) asleep and starting to wake up, camera cuts to a Full length shot of girl 1 (Sarah) getting out of bed.         4 seconds

Act  2:

Mid shot of girl 2 (Katie) putting on makeup in the mirror, camera shows her profile and her reflection in the mirror as she applies blusher and admiring her appearance.         4 seconds

Act 3:

Full length shot of girl 3 (Becky) pouring tea from a tea pot into a china cup, camera cuts to a mid shot of her doing this, focusing mainly on the tea pot which bears the Tom and the Tea Pots logo.         4 seconds

SCENE 3:

Morning time. Daylight.

OUDOORS – PARK IN TYNEMOUTH.

Tom: Black coat, black jeans, casual shoes.

Girl 3 – Becky: casual wear, skirt, tights and coat.

Act 1:

Tom is sitting on a bench playing guitar. The camera focuses to the right, with Tom sitting on the bench on the right hand side of the screen. Full length shot, getting Tom, his guitar and the bench on the screen. Girl 3 – Becky, walks along the path, camera watches her walk past, but remains still, with Tom still on screen, watching her walk past.

Act 2:

Afternoon ish. Daylight.

OUTDOORS – COLLINGWOODS MONUMENT.

Camera is at a low angle looking up at Girl 3 – Becky sitting on the steps at the top of Collingwood’s monument, reading a book which bears the Tom and the Teapots logo.

Camera cuts to an Over the Shoulder shot at a high angle, looking down on Tom who is walking up the steps whilst playing guitar. Camera holds this position until he reaches Girl 3 – Becky.

Camera cuts to a point of view shot from Tom’s eye line as he watches Girl 3 – Becky walk back down the stairs.

Act 3:

Afternoon ish. False Light.

INDOORS – SUPERMARKET.

Girl 3 – Becky is at the supermarket buying groceries. The camera get a full length shot from behind, getting the isle, groceries, her and the trolley in the shot.

Mid shot from a side view of Girl 3 – Becky bending over to get something, camera follows her doing this, and when she looks back to the trolley.

Afternoon ish. Daylight.

OUTDOORS – OUTSIDE MILLS.

Full length shot, getting the exit doors in and the general scenery in - an establishing shot – as Girl 3 – Becky walks out with her shopping. Tom is stood against the wall playing guitar, Girl 3 – Becky turns her head and looks at him, this will be an over the shoulder mid shot, getting Girl 3 – Becky turning her head and Tom playing guitar.

Act 4:

Evening. Daylight.

OUTDOORS. WALKING HOME DOWN A STREET.

Girl 3 – Becky is walking home down a street, Tom is walking behind her, full length shot, with a depth of focus, focusing on both Girl 3 – Becky and Tom, with Girl 3 – Becky in the foreground and Tom in the background.

Act 5:

Evening. Daylight.

OUTDOORS. BACK GARDEN.

Girl 3 – Becky is unclipping the washing. Over the shoulder side view shot of Girl 3 – Becky unclipping washing off the washing line. Tom is standing behind the washing.

As Girl 3 – Becky takes down the second bed sheet the camera switches a mid shot side view, getting both Girl 3 – Becky and Tom on screen, with the sheet in between.

Camera cuts to a mid shot of Tom playing guitar and smiling.

Camera then cuts to a mid shot of Girl 3 – Becky smiling back, then picking up the basket of dry washing and walking back into the house.

Act 6:

The Next Day.

Morning. Daylight.

OUTDOORS. WALKING DOG IN A PARK, TYNEMOUTH.

Tom: Black coat, black jeans, casual shoes.

Girl 3 – Becky: casual wear, skirt, tights and a different coat.

Tom is walking in a park, Girl 3 – Becky is walking behind him walking her dog, full length shot, with a depth of focus, focusing on both Girl 3 – Becky and Tom, with Tom in the foreground and Girl 3 – Becky in the background.

Act 7:

Later that day.

Evening – tea time. Daylight.

OUTDOORS. TYNEMOUTH METRO STATION.

Full length shot of Girl 3 – Becky sitting on the bench in the metro, straight on shot. Camera cuts to an over the shoulder, establishing shot of the empty platform, a train then goes past, and Tom appears on the platform.

Camera cuts back to Girl 3 – Becky standing up as she sees Tom.

Camera cuts back to another metro going past, and as the metro disappears, Tom has gone.

Camera cuts back to a shot of Girl 3 – Becky sitting back down as she realises he’s not there.

SCENE 4:

Act 1:

Later that day.

Evening – tea time. Night time.

OUTDOORS. KING EDWARDS BEACH.

Girl 1 – Sarah: warm clothing.

Girl 2 – Katie: warm clothing.

Girl 3 – Becky: warm clothing.

Girls 1, 2 and 3 separately walking down the stairs.

Full length shot. Camera is at the top of the stairs looking down on Girl 1 – Sarah walking down. Camera cuts to Girl 1 - Sarah approaching the last few stairs, camera is at a low angle, looking up at Girl 1 – Sarah walking down.

Full length shot. Camera is at the top of the stairs looking down on Girl 2 – Katie walking down. Camera cuts to Girl 2 – Katie approaching the last few stairs, camera is at a low angle, looking up at Girl 2 – Katie walking down.

Full length shot. Camera is at the top of the stairs looking down on Girl 3 – Becky walking down. Camera cuts to Girl 3 – Becky approaching the last few stairs, camera is at a low angle, looking up at Girl 3 – Becky walking down.

Act 2:

Later that day.

Evening – tea time. Night time.

OUTDOORS. KING EDWARDS BEACH.

Girl 1 – Sarah: warm clothing.

Girl 2 – Katie: warm clothing.

Girl 3 – Becky: warm clothing.

Girls 1, 2 and 3 separately walking towards the fire.

Full length shot from behind, with Girl 1 – Sarah in the foreground and the fire in the background. Girl 1 – Sarah is walking towards the fire. Fire is on the left hand side of the screen and Girl 1 – Sarah is on the right hand side.

Full length shot from behind, with Girl 2 – Katie in the foreground and the fire in the background. Girl 2 – Katie is walking towards the fire. Fire is on the left hand side of the screen and Girl 2 – Katie is on the right hand side.

Full length shot from behind, with Girl 3 – Becky in the foreground and the fire in the background. Girl 3 – Becky is walking towards the fire. Fire is on the left hand side of the screen and Girl 3 – Becky is on the right hand side.

Act 3:

All done on a handheld camera, in a real life motion, unscripted. With Girl 1 – Sarah, Girl 2 – Katie and Girl 3 – Becky in the shots.

Act 4:

Later that day.

Evening – tea time. Night time.

OUTDOORS. KING EDWARDS BEACH.

Girl 1 – Sarah: warm clothing.

Girl 2 – Katie: warm clothing.

Girl 3 – Becky: warm clothing.

Tom – warm clothing.

Tom walking over to fire.

Full length, long distance shot of Tom walking over to the fire. The fire is in the foreground and Tom is in the background, on the left hand side of the screen. The camera stays still and on him until he is much closer.

Camera cuts to a close up shot of Girl 3 – Becky’s expression as she notices Tom walking over towards the fire. She looks surprised and happy to see him.

Camera cuts to an over the shoulder shot from behind of Girl 3 – Becky walking towards tom, the camera is at an angle that gets both Girl 3 – Becky and Tom into the shot. The camera stays still till they reach each other.

Camera then cuts to a mid shot of Girl 3 – Becky and Tom kissing then pans off up to the sky as lanterns are set off.