Closing Post

This is the final post on my individual music blog. I've worked realy hard on this project, and I hope you've enjoyed looking at my work. I certainly feel like I have learnt a lot!

Olivia Cole
Candidate no. 3165

Moderator Post

Dear Moderator,

This is the individual blog for Olivia Cole, candidate 3165. Links to the group blog, as well as the other group members - James Reader and Frank Tan can be found in the links bar. I hope you enjoyed looking at my project!

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

Technology in Research Stages

During this phase of our task, the Internet proved incredibly valuable in finding out about our target audience and conventions of the rock genre. Using search engines like Google, we were able to research other music acts that were similar to our proposed band, such as Paramore. Their websites contained a lot of information that we could use for ourselves.

Paramore's webiste

In addition to this, I found it fairly easy to research our primary 13-20 female target audience using social networking sites. Due to the angry, heavy style of music, we decided that Dropouts Fans would probably be a little angsty and rebellious, which meant that I would have to go beyond looking at facebook profiles of friends, as the lack of anonymity means that people don't present an accurate depiction of themselves. A social networking site that proved more helpful was tumblr.com, as it is expected that you will follow people you don't know, based on shared interests. Here, a lot of teenagers share much more personal thoughts as their identities are far more concealed, and therefore I could get a much stronger insight into the thoughts, interests, likes and dislikes of our target group.  

Tumblr Dashboard

When we were looking for inspiration for music tracks and video ideas, the site youtube proved invaluable in supplying video content. The comment section of certain congs also contained some interesting feedback from the marketplace.

Youtube

Technology in Planning Stages

Our Blogger Page

We were set up with a group blog on Blogger.com so that we could have a platform for sharing ideas. This meant we could share research and planning posts between the group without having to meet up in person. We also used a facebook group to share ideas before posting formally on the blog.
Email messaging also proved helpful in contacting media staff who arn't contactable using social networking sites, especially when we were buying our coffin off ebay.

Email Account

Our band and logo designs were drawn onto a Promenthean ActivTablet and then uploaded to the internet, which meant I could use the images to find a matching costume fairly quickly.

Initial Design: Pandora

Initial Designs: Sparks, Vyper and Xen

Technology in Production Stages

 On the shoots, we used a Sony HVR V1E Film Camera to capture our footage. This was helpful as the images come out in high quality and it has a high battery life. The footage was filmed onto tapes which we could store in the media block when we were not using them.

An action shot from the shoot

We used the Seward Studio to film our video, which is a multipurpose arts room. We had the good fortune of having access to a full range of studio lighting, which meant that we could black out the room entirely and set up spotlights on the main action.

Frank's time to shine

The editing programme we used was Adobe Premiere CS5, which is really good for this sort of project, as it is relatively simple to use, but does include a lot of extra features, including colour grading, screen cropping and video transitions (we begin ours with a fade in from black). We could also use different timelines for each 'set-up' which helped us organise and time our shots to the music before we edited them together.

The programme we used: Adobe Premiere CS5

For our official band photoshoot, which produced images for the album and website, we used a Sony DSC H40 digital camera, in addition to three point lighting. The ability to look over photos we had just taken was helpful in improving our shots, and the good lighting minimised the time I had to spend editing the images in Adome Photoshop CS5.1. Photoshop was also the programme we used to design the album.

Before

After

For our website, we used http://www.wix.com/, as it provides a vast range of features for site building, such as active links, galleries, and the ability to embed videos, photos and twitter feeds (follow us at @thedropoutsuk !). The site allowed us to make a detailed band website, as seen at www.wix.com/latymermusicvideo118/thedropouts

Technology in Evaluation Stages

Posts were put up on the school's Intranet System to advertise the music video audience screenings, which occured in the Seward Studio, which this time was set up as a cinema.

Our Intranet System, which contains a news feed

 Using an overhead projector, we screened the video onto white canvass. After this, we uploaded our video to youtube, and from there shared it across facebook, twitter and tumblr to collect feedback.
 

Recent tweets from the Dropouts @thedropoutsuk on twitter. If you look further down the timeline, you spot Pandora arguing with @burningcarrecords, and @thedropoutsxen having a bass-off with the XYZs.

Goin' Down on Youtube

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

Recap on our target audience

Girls aged between 13-20
Very tech savvy
Beginning to rebel from authorities figures, i.e. school, parents
Beginning to start relationships
Looking for new genres of music in order to gain some individuality

Secondary Audience
Boys aged 13-20
50 + both genders, who liked bands such as The Runaways

See below for highlights from our focus group research.


We also took a wider sample of responses using a paper questionnaire, which meant that people could give feedback more anonymously. This was helpful as it meant that we could be given more critical feedback this way. Click this images to see some responses.

The feedback questionnaire applicants were of both gender and aged between 15 and 18. The responses were fairly similar, which suggests that we managed to target the average teenager accurately, as they understood our intentions with the video.

Out of ten, we managed an average rating of 7.7, which means that although there were elements we could have improved, it still successfully impacted on our primary audience.

The genre was correctly identified by everyone as rock, although there were some variations on the type of rock music - answers ranged to punk-rock to alternative-rock.

When asked what they liked about the video, common responses included 'the content of the video matched the song', 'the pace', and 'the different set-ups', especially the boyfriend shots, as several of them mentioned our slo-mo falling shot at the drop in the music. They agreed that it was similar to a real video, I suspect because we complied to a lot of the conventions of rock music videos. Most said that they would consider buying the album as long as the other tracks were of the same standard, which we found interesting as most of them were male, meaning that the video appears to be accessible to both genders. All of them said they would expect to see this video on the MTV music channels.

We also posted a questionnaire online, and asked some people that were outside of the main target audience to proved feedback. Examples of responses can be seen if you click the image below. (apologies for the rick-roll, it's the inevitable result of posting anything on facebook)

Some feedback that I was really happy about were the responses on whether they would buy the album, particularly the third point. One of the issues with the band that sing this song, is that the music is good but the lead singer isn't very likable to teenage girls, which should be the main target audience. For an example, read the following interview. http://www.teenvogue.com/industry/coverlook/2009/07/teen-vogue-cover-girl-taylor-momsen_090728 In our case, it appears that we have completed our aim of accurately targeting the 13-18 audience, as they like the image of the band far more than the Pretty Reckless.

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

We felt that the combination of our main product (the music video) and the ancilliary texts (the website and the album cover) were successful in projecting a firm band image. We created a brand identity by carrying over certain elements throughout all three products, such as band members, their individual characteristics, colour scheme, font, record label and music.

The Dropouts as a band

Across our three products we used images of the same four band members, in order to help the audience identify the band. This is especially important for us as our band was supposed to be debuting in the british music scene, and therefore the potential audience cannot be expected to already recognise the individual members. As a result, we spent considerable time on the the webiste creating identities for each member, which reflected in the video and album cover.

In the website bio, Pandora Hart, the lead vocalist, is depicted as a fierce female character, so we also showed this attitude throughout the photos of her on the site. In the music video, the definining characteristic is that she is beating up a male character which strengthens this identity of a strong female figure. Conventionally in rock bands, the lead singer will be given greater focus than the rest of the musicians, so in the video she is given the most screentime, a lot of which is filmed in CU, in order to cement her appearance in the mind of the audience. Because of this, we also used her more prominently on the album cover, as she is the most identifiable band member. The front image of the album cover also refers directly to the events of the song, as it replicates a mugshot, following the music video in which she has supposedly killed her boyfriend, as implied by the presence of a coffin.

We wanted to create an enigma when it came to our bassist, Xen. The text in the website bio explains this, and a lot of the images featured of him are not too clear, building on this mysterious identity. The only shots of him in the video, and the other male members of the band, are performance shots, which ties in with the website representation of them being solely interested in the music. We also featured a video interview of Xen, where we saw his social indifference in action.

As the lead guitarists of rock bands stereotypically have a reputation of being 'ladies men', we enhanced this identity with AJ Vyper, using photos that were slightly more revealing than the other two. The opening shot of 'Goin' Down' is of Vyper playing an electric guitar, which cements the  rock music genre for the band.

On the back cover, Pandora and Vyper are centralised, as conventionally the lead singer and guitarist are the focal points of a rock band.

With our drummer, Johnny Sparks, we used images of him throughout the website holding drumsticks, as it is a little harder to show what his function in within the band, as it's not very useful to take every picture with a drumkit. With all four members, we used similar clothing in the music video, album and website, so that the style of the band is constant - the colour black features prominently as it is a common colour for rock music.

Examples of Synergy

As stated before, the album cover directly ties in with the music video, as the mugshot image is relevant to the murder theme of the song. In some long shots, it is possible to see the skull logo from the inside cover on the bass drum, which heightens band identity. Our band members each have an individual colour scheme of black and gold, silver and blue for Vyper, Xen, and Sparks respectively.

The main page of the website also contains this colour scheme

However the most predominant colour scheme is black and purple, which iswhat Pandora wears in the video, and several of the photographs - this colour was featured on the album cover and the website, and we managed to create the exact colour by using the code #680363. The industry references on the album and website match - we created the fictional 'burning car records', complete with logo, which is presented on both texts. Naturally, our music video track is listed on the album, and is set as the music player on the website.

The Label info on the website. This can also be seen on the back cover of the album

Getting the audience to invest in the band

It is sad but true that bands don't make it unless they bring in a lot of money from the audiences. For this reason, we included a lot of promotional material for the album 'You'll Love Me When I'm Famous' and the single 'Goin' Down', as well as band merchandise. The music video itself is a promotional tool - by streaming it on tv and online, the audience awareness of the band and their music is lifted. The album contains multiple links to web content, which in turn promotes all the music. Our banner at the top of the page to sell the album contains the same image from the back cover of the album, using syngergy to help the audience link the two. On several pages of the site, for example 'Gallery', we have a advert for the album with links to itunes. The shop provides clothes featuring the short and long band logos, so that the audience has the ability to identify themselves as a fan.

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products.

Our group sat down together to discuss the above question. We began with the music video.



Summary Points:

• Conventional Rock Video
• Dark colour scheme & lots of performance shots
• Relationship between lyrics and visuals
• Relationship between music and visuals - cut to the beat
• CU of singer acting as visual hook
• Comparisions to It's My Life
• Little less responsible band  image, but appealing to teenage audience
• Breaking editing rules - typical music video convention
• Concept / fragmented narrative don't link to performance
• Metaphorical mise-en-scene
• Alternative gender representation

We then moved onto the website:



Summary Points

• We stuck to conventional website layouts
• Different features - music, links etc
• Traditional pages
• Brand Image strengthened
• Opportunities to buy - adverts
• Challenging conventions in terms of bio - targeting audience not critics / journalists
• Audience Interactons on different platforms - twitter; comment box
• Keeping site as a central hub

Summary Points

• Challenging conventions - competition page - making question appeal to audience
• Social Networking used to target audience
• Record Label influence

Discussing the Album


Summary Points

• Symbolic, artistic front image
• Using album title in image
• Industry conventions: Parental Advisory sign, Label details, band contact
• Making sure whole band is featured - rock is a group genre not solo
• Logo across all products
• Colour scheme - similarities between all four pages

Audience Overview

Our primary target audience are: 

Girls aged between 13 and 20.

Secondary audiences include: 

Boys aged between 13 and 20

Girls aged 10 to 13

Girls aged 20-25

Other rock music fans

Things that girls may experience in their teenage years:

1. Changes in appearance. This could be hairstyles or colour, body piercings, weight fluctuation, increase in height, or change in fashion.
2. Rejection of family lifestyle. A stronger focus on friends and social life, less time spent with parents.
3. Becoming more argumentative, and defending own beliefs and opinions.
4. Mood swings and magnified emotions.
5. Experimentation. This could be with drugs, alcohol, sexuality, or lifestyle choices.

A selection of statistics about the target audience

52% of children ages 5-17 who have a TV in their bedroom.
Four out of five teens (17 million) carry a wireless device (a 40% increase since 2004)
Approximately 80% of adult smokers started smoking before the age of 18. 
Among young people, those with poorer grades and lower self-images are most likely to begin using tobacco. 
Young people who come from a low-income family and have fewer than two adults living in their household are especially at risk for becoming smokers.
More than half of teenagers are virgins until they are at least 17 years of age.
More than half (56 percent) of youths age 12-17 reported that marijuana was easy to obtain. 
More than 40% of teens who admitted drinking said they drink when they are upset; 31% said they drink alone; 25% said they drink when they are bored; and 25% said they drink to "get high." 
Hours per day that TV is on in an average home: 7 hours, 12 minutes

Video

From researching the audience, it becomes apparent that the teenage years are a highly transitional time for a person, where they try to find their own identity. Our video should tap into the anxieties that teenagers face, as we are promoting a message of making your own decisions and not conforming to social expectation. As it is the teenage years where people become more rebellious, the should be able to identify with our brand of defiance.

Marketing

As it is apparent that young people spend a lot of time online, we decided that the internet should be the main platform for promoting our band. Social networking sites such as facebook, twitter and youtube are highly popular with young people, so creating band pages would be beneficial to targeting a young audience, in addition to creating a band website.

Band Image

Our image is based on rebelling against the traditional system, and calling your own shots. As our target audience is predominantly female, we don't intend to style our female singer in a highly provocative way, as this could alienate some of the potential fanbase. However, we do intend to put a focus on the fashion of the band, as this is a core interest of girls of this age group. In many ways the band represents the 'girl power' portrayed by the spice girls, albeit with rock music. This ties in with the teenage desire not to be pidgeonholed into other peoples expectations.

Pitch Logistics

Before we pitched our idea in front of the class, we finalised our logistics, so that any problems could be ironed out beforehand. These included figuring out locations, actors, props and costumes.

Olivia, James, Frank Notes

Initial Planning

When we first picked out Goin' Down as the song we wished to use, we started brainstorming ideas for the video on paper. First, we printed out the lyrics and made notes on the types of references we should consider, alongside a plan for set-ups.

To collect our ideas together, Frank wrote down his visualisation for each part of the song. I then made my notes alongside his, and then James read over it and discussed his thoughts verbally. This proved helpful, as by this point we were already working on the same idea, but from this point we were able to tie down our key set-ups and moments within the song.

sheets to be scanned in.

Male Representation

Masculine Identity

Using four different clips, I investigated the different portrayals of the masuline identity in music videos. In broad terms, the most obvious split is between the top images and the bottom images, as the bottom two images present men in the traditional dominant male role, whereas the top images show vulnerability.

In Misery by Maroon 5, the lead singer is shown to be the literal punchbag of his love interest. Throughout the video, she subjects him to physical torture, yet he still comes back for more, which is an amplification of the lyrics, which centre around a troubled relationship. The woman is clearly shown to be the figure with more power, which is somewhat unusual in music videos.
A significant lack of confidence and control is portrayed by the lead singer in Coldplay's Yellow music video, as he is presented as walking alone down a beach, getting gradually drenched by the sea spray. This is slightly unusual as male artists do not usually give a strong emotional performance in their videos.
Although The Lonely Island are a comedy band, their video for 'I'm on a Boat' features many of the conventions of male rap music. For example, there are lots of dramatic wideshots that make the singer look empowered, and the men featured are all wearing smart suits, connotating that they are wealthy.
In Starstrukk, 3OH!3 play on the idea of male artists being able to instantly attract women, as by the end it becomes an issue for the singers, as they are pushed into the pond. Like The Lonely Island, they wear black suits, which again suggests that they 'have it all'. This perhaps is in order to make the male audience idolise their lifestyles.

How do you consume music?

The main ways in which modern society consumes music:

Radio

Music Players:

iPods, mobile phones, mp3 players

Computer sites:

Spotify, we7, youtube, myspace, live radio streaming

Television:

music channels, On Demand music videos, TV appearances

Live Performances:

Festivals, concerts

How does our target audience affect this?

Our primary target audience of teenage girls aged 13-20 are usually in possession of a portable music player, such as an iPod, and are generally in reach of the internet. This means that a band attempting to crack the teenage market would need to have a strong online presence, both on music sites like myspace and social networking sites like twitter.  

It would certainly be helpful to consider the different media platforms that we could incorperate into the website; for example we could have:

Photo Galleries

Videos - The Music Video, behind the scenes of the shoots, and interviews

Twitter feed

Facebook feed

Music player

Interactive Games & Quizzes

Researching onedirectionmusic.com

Opportunities to spend money:

The Single

There is a page on the site dedicated solely to buying the debut single, which allows the audience to purchase it through various online shops, such as itunes, play.com and HMV. The single cover is given prominent position on the page, allowing the audience to recognise the brand image. 

The Tour

The site has a page dedicated to events, and on this there can be found a list of all the dates and venues of the upcoming One Direction tour. Alongside this are instructions of how to purchase tickets once they go on sale.

Merchandise

One Direction have an offshoot website linked to their main site, which sells merchandise associated to the band, along with other artists from their record label. Amongst the items available for sale are posters, mugs and clothing, all with images of the band, the band logo and sometimes signed autographs.

Track Shortlist

For our Music Video project, we looked at female fronted rock bands, as there currently is a gap in the UK market for music of this genre. Using older tracks such as 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' by Pat Benetar for inspiration, we researched modern bands to find an appropriate song.





Our final shortlist included the songs listed below:

Goin' Down - The Pretty Reckless

My Medicine - The Pretty Reckless

Dull Life - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Crazy - Mimi Soya

There were many more tracks that we listened to, including msuic from bands such as Paramore, but we felt that the type of music we wanted was more angsty and angry than what was available in their catalogue. After pitching a rough idea for the music video to our teacher, we were given the go ahead to use our favourite track, Goin' Down by the Pretty Reckless.

Music Video Intertextuality

 Taylor Swift - Love Story

The music video for Love Story by Taylor Swift references the stereotypical princess-centric fairytale, with elements of Romeo and Juliet and costume dramas such as Pride and Prejudice.

Perhaps most prominent of the intertextual references are the allusions to disney princesses, through both narrative and mise-en-scene. In the video, Taylor plays the protagonist who is locked away in a castle, only for a young man to come and rescue her. Visually, the clothes match this set-up - she is dressed in a long ballgown and many of the shots are taken from a window in a castle, bearing much similarity to Rapunzel. As Taylor Swift's core fanbase are females between 8-18,  this reference is instantly recognisable , as most of these girls would have a sound knowledge of disney princess movies, and would be hitting the age of aspiring to have a perfect 'fairy tale' relationship.

The lyrics pay homage to Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet', so it is unsuprising that the video includes some intertextual references to the play. The balcony scene is the most obvious homage, as Taylor is presented on an elevated level whilst her suitor is on the floor below. In terms of costume, the themes of 'Romeo and Juliet' are more noticeable in the male characters attire. Like Romeo, he is shown in some smart traditional mens clothes, but in the balcony scene he is dressed far more simply, indicating that he may be of a lower class in comparison to her.  



The dance sequence in 'Love Story' is highly similar to those in both the BBC serial and the Joe Wright film adaption of 'Pride and Prejudice'. Like Romeo and Juliet and disney movies, Pride and Prejudice is commonly regarded, especially by women, to be one of the greatest love stories of all time, so by including a reference it gives the video a stronger feel of the epic romance it is aiming for.

Album Cover Analysis

From looking at a range of albums from different genres, I've been able to distinguish the key features that make up the album's composition. These generally include:

1. Artist Name
2. Album Title
3. Image of artist
4. Track List
5. Record Label Logo
6. Bar Code

There are different ways of categorising album covers, but often this is most easily done through the genre. Mainstream pop albums tend to feature a CU of the lead singer, whilst alternative bands lean towards using original artwork. The colour scheme is also often a key signifier, as the brighter the colours, the more attractive it is to a younger audience. Dark, gloomy images lend themselves to an older audience, that are perhaps more serious about their taste in music. However, in recent years it has been harder to identify the type of music through the album artwork, as it is currently in vogue to create something this is highly striking and original, regardless of the style and tone of the music.

For debut artists, albums usually have an image of the singer or band on the front cover, so that they become quickly recognisable to a new audience. There is a reoccuring theme of creating a very strong brand image on the debut album, for example there will be a striking font and very distinctive styling on the artist.

Music Influences

Our class held a group discussion concerning how we have been influenced to like or buy music in the past and in the present. Some very interesting points kept on being raised that seemed to apply to the entire group, so I've collected a summary of the most important notes.

As a child, musical influuence often came from:

1. Older Siblings
2. Parents
3. Friends
4. Songs taught in school
5. Songs from popular culture, such as children's and reality talent shows.

From this, it can be seen that children tend to follow trends dictated by popular culture. Music is initially a way to fit in rather than stand out, so they tend to conform to mainstream conventions.

Beyond childhood, music tastes appear to broaden. This usually happens as people start searching for an individual style and personality. In the past, people have cornered themselves into a specific genre, but now that we have become an 'ipod generation', tastes in music are widening, instead of falling into a niche area.

Music influences beyond childhood:
Friends

1. Youtube Searches
2. Other internet promotions
3. Songs from tv and film soundtracks
4. Radio

Hype Williams

Hype Williams is one of the world's most popular music video directors. His first video was made in 1991, and he has consistently made videos for top artists up to the present day.

The genres that he typically works with are rap and Hip-Hop, and he frequently collaborates with Kanye West, Mary J. Blige, and LL Cool J. His videos are known for distinctive colour schemes and exotic mise-en-scene. His earlier works make use of fish-eye cameras, but more recently his videos have featured shots in regular widescreen ratio, while a second shot is split and placed in the upper and lower bars.

Will Smith - Gettin' Jiggy Wit It - 1997

This is a prime example of use fish-eye camera, which Williams used almost without fail until about 1995, where the trend came to an end. This video has high contrast between blue, white and black, and uses several inventive set-ups, such as an Egyptian theme and a dance sequence by the statue of liberty.

Jay-Z - Big Pimpin' ft. UGK - 2000


Big Pimpin' is a classic example of a rap/hip-hop video. It includes a vast array of stereotypical rap cliches, like a boat, a beach, hundreds of scantily clad women, money and alcohol running free, large party scenes and high angles. This is one of the first uses of the widescreen camera, which Williams now frequently uses, perhaps most noticeably in LL Cool J's 'Control Myself', in which the top and bottom space show a different scene.




Kanye West - Diamonds from Sierra Leone - 2005


Shot in both the Czech Republic and Sierra Leone, this video is an example of Williams movement towards broadening the locations of his videos - he would later go on to film 'Stronger' by Kanye West in Japan. The video is shot entirely in black and white, and if it weren't for West's perfomance sequences, could be presented as a short film. This idea of the 'short film as music video' was further explored in 'Blame it' by T-Pain, which had opening credits, citing Williams and several celebrity guest stars. By the mid noughties Williams had begun to stray away from traditional  rap videos, and began to explore more serious topics, such as the blood diamond industry in this video.


Coldplay - Viva La Vida - 2009
This shows Williams departure from rap or hip-hop videos, and into alternative rock. Here, he has experimented with texture,  to coincide with the album artwork for Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends. This is a performance piece, so there are lots of shots of the vocalist and instruments, unlike in previous videos. The orange colour scheme which gives the impression of a classical painting indicates another change for Williams as he expands his music video genres.

Music and Me

Girls Don't Like Boys - Good Charlotte


 I chose this soing to reflect my time at primary school because it was one of the first songs I liked outside of the pop genre. My class was over two thirds male, it was probably because of this that I became gradually more tomboyish. For a long time, I only knew the song through everybody singing it, so when I first heard it wperfomed by Good Charlotte I remember being really excited that it was even better than I initially thought. I was also slighly judgmental of people who liked listening to harder, 'angry' rock music, so it was also a lesson to me that other genres can be just as good. My music taste has been incredibly wide ever since.

Childhood Song Shortlist 
Reach - S Club 7
Thunderbirds are  Go - Busted
Joseph's Coat of Many Colours - Joseph and the Amazing Multicoloured Dreamcoat



Spiralling - Keane



This is the song I've chosen to reflect my early teenage years. Though I didn't realise at the time, I was quite an emo child, although I was very subtle about it, which explains why the most emo my music got was Keane songs. I remeber listening to the lyrics one day and realising that they almost fully matched my life and the way I felt about things, and being happy that I'd finally found a song that 'got' me. Although it isn't really an accurate representation of me anymore, I still love the song, and use it as a running track.

Early Teenage Years Shortlist
Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield
Overprotected - Britney Spears
Angels - Robbie Williams


Hey Soul Sister - Glee Cast



I chose this clip because it features a song I love, on a show I love, sung by some unknown actor called Darren Criss. I like it because it's arguably one of the Glee covers that manages to outdo the original, and the performance is so happy and enthusiatic that you can't help feeling like that too.

Current Songs Playlist
Teenage Dream - Katy Perry
Love Like Woe - The Ready Set
Heart Skips a Beat - Olly Murs

Prelim Evaluation

The completed task



Our group chose to base the edit on the original cut, but didn't choose to exactly match the Five video.

Evaluation of the task 

The Call Sheet

Filming behind-the-scenes footage

1. Did you enjoy the workshop day? What were your best bits and why?

I really enjoyed the workshop, and found it really interesting. My favourite parts of the day were when the entire class had to freestyle dance, as it meant that everybody got to be involved. The atmosphere throughout the whole day was really positive, probably due to the fact that it's very difficult to be miserable whilst doing 90's dance moves. It was also really good to be able to watch shots through the monitor, as we'd never been able to see the full effect of the higher quality cameras before.

Using the crash mat

Background dancing shots

Filming the performance

2. What did you learn from participating in the workshop?



Off-duty extras watch the footage



I leant that it's really important to keep up a good atmosphere throughout the shoot, as by the end everyone will be really tired. I also noticed that often it takes longer to direct the technical side of things than the actors or dancers, so we will have to take that into consideration during our own projects. In addition to this, I also realised the next day that it would help to properly warm up and down after the day, as everyone's arms were really aching!

3. Are you pleased with the footage and your edit? Is it how you expected it to look?

I am really pleased with the footage, although when we arrived in the edit suite we realised that a couple of shots were missing, or looked rather different to the originals. For this reason, our edit is based on the original cut but not identical, as we felt it would be a waste to not use other good shots.

4. How do you think your workshop experiences will impact on your approach to next term's music video coursework?

I think that the main thing is to have everything meticulously planned before the shoot, so that the actors don't get bored and distracted whilst we set up the equipment for each new shot. With any physical sequences, we should make sure that everyone on set has enough food and drink to keep going, as it's vital to have everyone on screen looking enthusiastic. Also, it took us maybe hundreds of plays of 'Everybody Get Up' before we became comfortable with the raps, so it would possibly be easier to use a slightly slower song that can be picked up easier. This would also make the edit slightly easier.