Film Plan- 12/12/2009

On Saturday, I will be filming at one of our locations with Hannah (another member of the team) as part as our music video project.

We will be filming in manchester city centre, we will be filming the busy city centre for one hour. We will be using that busy background setting to super-impose onto a green screen then we will film our artist in front of the green screen performing the song. We will be speeding up the background (of people shopping/day to day business) while she is still.

Below is a list of equipment I will be using while on location:

• Video Camera- I will be using the video camera to  film the busy shopping centre and will be filming the manchester carousel which is another location being used in our music video
  
• Still Camera- Hannah will be using the camera to take location shots in manchester to post on our blog
• Tripod- The tripod will be used to hold the camera while I am filming, we are using the tripod so we do not get shaky/hand held camera shots
• Tape- I will be taping to film tapes because we will be recording at least 1 hour and 30 minutes of footage

By Muhammad Patel, Lauren Pollard, Lauren Widdop and Hannah Tabor

Feedback 7.12.09

Well done team. This blog is very thorough. You need to post your plans on here - storyboards, props lists, filming schedule etc. I need to see more from Lauren Pollard and Hannah Tabor so ensure you make equal contributions to the blog. You should be filming this week so add any further research or planning out of lesson time.

Mrs A

Our Artist

This is the model that we will be using to stand for our artist in our music video. We feel that her style is exactly what we are aiming for.
In order to make progress, we have given her a copy of the CD and lyrics for her to familiarise herself with the song, ready for filming.

By Lauren Widdop

This presentation is showing how an aritist must have a brand identity to be successful and help sell their music. Originally, due to their image, they weren't connecting with audiences and their music was suffering by hitting poor chart positions. Although, they reinvented themselves and 'toned down' their image, aiding their music sales with one of their singles reaching number 2 in the music charts.

Goldfrapp is an artist similar to what we are looking for, with their original look and unique sound. For our coursework we will devise a prominent brand image to help promote our band and ensure that they click with audiences.

By Lauren Widdop

Artist/Model Search...

One thing that we are currently focussing on, is the search for our music artist. We are looking for a quirky, "different" looking female, with something striking about her. We have asked various different people, although no luck as of yet! We will distribute posters (similar to below), advertising our queries and see if we progress.

We know she's out there somewhere..............



















By Lauren Widdop

Narrative

For our coursework, we have decided to create a music video, with an Indie/Folk style genre. We decided upon this because this is where we feel our group will excel the strongest.

The plot for our music video is currently very vague, as we have decided that our video will be experimentally based. Together we have devised a list of locations for the setting(s) of our video, once filmed we will then devise a plot throughout the period of editing.

Originally, we were going to start the video with slow paced editing, showing quick shots of all our locations, although after looking into the lyrics and the meaning behind them, we feel that beginning the video with an abrupt and sudden start will link in a lot better.

A lot of music videos tend to follow the typical narrative theme of a beginning, middle and end. For example, JoJo – Too Little Too Late (see video below), this is a video that starts with the artist telling the story through the lyrics i.e. the girl has been cheated on and messed around, the story then progresses i.e. we find out what happened between the couple and then the video ends i.e. the boy is rejected and the girl gets satisfaction – with the moral being ‘Too Little Too Late’. I recognize this because the video follows the typical narrative structure.



An example of a music video that doesn’t follow the typical narrative structure and is very similar to something that we are looking to create is A & E by Goldfrapp. This video is very strange and doesn’t follow a particular order, or even link in with the lyrics. It is experimental and doesn’t consist of a firm beginning, middle or end.

Goldfrapp - A&E
Uploaded by MuteRecords. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Narrative = the way events are put together to be presented to an audience.

There are various theories that we could potentially follow regarding the narrative structure of our video:

Propp – a formalist scholar who analyzed the basic plot components of texts to identify their simplest irreducible narrative elements. He was a strong believer in that the narrative of most media texts always consist of 8 main characters;

1. The villain — struggles against the hero.
2. The donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
3. The (magical) helper — helps the hero in the quest.
4. The princess and her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished.
5. The dispatcher — character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
6. The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
7. [False hero] — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.

Todorov – another whom suggests that all narratives follow a three part structure. They begin with equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution, when equilibrium is restored. This simple formula can be applied to virtually all narratives - it is a more formal way of thinking about the beginning, middle and end, and it takes into account Aristotle's theory that all drama is conflict i.e. there is a disequilibrium at the heart of every narrative.

Barthes' (Enigma Code) – The narrative will establish enigmas or mysteries as it goes along. Essentially, the narrative functions to establish and then solve these mysteries.

Levi-Strauss' (Binary Opposition) – Narrative tension is based on opposition or conflict. This can be as simple as two characters fighting, but more often functions at an ideological level – e.g., in Westerns, what do the cowboys and Indians each represent?

After researching into all the various theorists and types of narrative, we have come to the conclusion that we won’t be following any of these structures, as our video will all be Experimental.

By Lauren Widdop

The Meaning Of The Song

To understand the song better i decided that no one could be better to explain it better than Allison Crowe. I searched on google for her official website, it had a link to the contact page. Here i could different ways in which i could contact her, E-mail, mailing lists and her guestbook. I thought that the quickest way to get a reply was to send an email saying:

"Dear Allison, I have recently heard your song angels from your album little light. I love the lyrics and was just wondering what inspired you to write this song? And what is the meaning behind the song? I hope to hear from you soon. Yours sincerely, Hannah Tabor"

In a couple of weeks I received an email back from her:

"Hi Hannah, Thanks for your kind words. The simple answer is, my life inspired me to write the song, and it's just about the crazy things that relationships do, I guess! Sometimes we put our partner above us, and it can be good to remember that we are equals. We have our own worth. We need to accept and love ourselves as much as we do other people. take care, Allison :o)"

This will hopefully help us understand it better as it is from the artists point of view. It will also help us with the ancillary tasks as we can incorporate the original ideas and beliefs behind the song.

By Hannah Tabor