Development of Magazine Advert

The magazine advert again was created on Photoshop, despite the program being used being excellent i found hard to create the advert. I was torn between wanting to create somethin completely new and vibrant to do with the new video or to stick with the theme and stay true to the band, the music and the times. I trialed the new vibrant look with a mix of the general old style which was posters like these for example:

When I tried to recreate this sort of look, with a modern twist, in colour and with some form of contemporary style i could only come up with these:

I never really felt that these two attempts were good enough. They had the simplicity and the colour but the one on the left was too empty and the one on the right was too much like a puzzle. I do however like the effects on the largest picture and the top right block in the right hand advert. These effects are called "" and "" and i applied them by selecting the layer with the desired image on and then going to the effects menu and trialing all of them out till the desired ones were found.

After these two attempts, i decided that maybe it was time to try and really imitate the styleand simplicity of those advertisements and posters previously shown. I started a new document on Photoshop left the background blank and first of all put the writing and album cover on. Once these were in place at the bottom and the title at the top there was a strip to fill. I saw from the research i did that the heads of the band were used alot in their posters, so i decided to have the same with the characters from my video. I did this but it still looked empty so the framing of them in the blue oval filled the space and also gave the figures a nice platform to sit on.

The characters profiles were taken from stills of the music video screen shotted and placed into Photoshop where they were cut down with the eraser tool, turned black and white and given a drop shadow to stand out that little bit more. I feel that the final design for my Magzine advert is definately the most retro of the three products i created, it is heavily influenced by the style of actual Beatles posters and as a result has a big link with the band and with the times. I think it is good to see something different, and this advert is different because it is a style that has been lost, most posters or magazine adverts nowadays are much busier but i think it is quite nice to have gone back to the simpler times.

Development of Digipack

For the digipack i used Photoshop to create it as it has the facilities to allow to create a professional looking product.I had to create each individual panel and and then piece them together as a final jpeg, so i had two 3 piece panels in the end.

The whole creation process is down to this toolbar. This toolbar has all of the tools i needed to, insert, cut, add effects, add font, change colour and edit the items that i put on the digipack.

For the front cover i had a clear image of what

i wanted it to look like, i had selected a picture that i wanted to put on the front the hardest part was deciding how to make my idea a reality. I imported

the image and added the font which for the moment was the original Beatles font so it looked like this.

So from this i was thinking of going in the direction of the Reservoir Dogs film posters, wi

th the suits being all black and the skin tones being the same as the background. To do this i needed to delete the background and just isolate the person then do the same to the skin tones and shirt so i would be left with the suit and hair. I tried using the magic wand to isolate just the man and then delete the background but that didn't work. So i then tried the magic rubber, this deletes sections of the same colour and this worked to a certain extent but then it started to delete fragments of the suit which wasn't the desired effect. The final option then was for me to painstakingly go round the image with the normal rubber tool and zooming in really really close . This was how that attempt turned out. As you can see

my hand wasn't steady enough and it didnt come out very well so i decided to scrap that idea and go down a different route. I also changed the font for this particular style, because although not as iconic as the original Beatles font, i felt that it matched the desired look better.

So after that idea didn't work out i tried put

ting many different many different effects, i looked at it sketchy, painted, lighted up, darkened, strobe lighted and many more but they either distorted the image so much it was unclear what it was or just didn't look right so in the end i decided to add a black and white effect to it. I felt that this would give it a slightly older look and also add a harshness attitude to the cover, emphasise the lonelyness of the character. I decided to go back to the original font with this design because i felt it fitted it better than the one i had changed it to, although i did change the colour and add a drop shadow, i did this to . The cover ended up looking lik this and im happy with the way it looks.

The other panels were much easier to design and here is the thought and production process behind those panels.

Target Audience

When making my products, the music video, digipack and Magazine advertisement, i had tokeep in mind the people that it was aimed at. Who were my target audience?

Well with the music of The Beatles spanning many genres it is difficult to pinpoint one particular group of people. So with The Beatles being mainly recognised as a traditional rock band i thought that it would be a good idea to try and appeal to that market, but also try and add a modern innfluence where i could. In the video there are many more modern influences in the way it is filmed than would be in a traditional rock music video.

With the way that there was no live performance but mainly a narrative and occasionally an individual performer singing or playing an instrument; some of the effects on certain shots (the cymbals/meeting sequence) are styled more like a pop or techno music video than a traditional rock video.

We can see how other traditional rock bands have taken other genres video styles into their own with the ACDC song "Rock n roll train" it has the same sort of effect as my cymbal/meeting sequence does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lermqfhhJx4&feature=related

So with the video i tried to bring it more up to times and to also incorporate many different genres as The Beatles did with their music. With the rest of my products though o odecided to try and stick to the times when The Beatles were in their prime, so i created a more retro looking magazine advertisement and the digipack i feel is somewhere imbetween modern style and the older look.

Location Shots

I think that during my shoot there were a maximum of 5 different locations; the bridge, the park, alleyway, garages and the streets. The filming done onthe streets was usually done on the way to the other locations so they weren't specifically chosen, Below are some still from the video that show the locations in the final production.

Artist Request

I had to send an email to whoever currently owns the rights to the song asking for permission to use the song and letting them know it is for my A2 coursework and not for financial gain.

Risk Assessment

I didnt think i really needed a risk assessment because well i didnt think i was doing anything particularly risky in my video. It's walking, singing, walking, swinging, walking some more if you break it down to its bare essentials. I did all of the filming unless i was singing in which case it was on a tripod in a stationary position. Probably the most potentially dangerous shot i got was the P.O.V shots from on the swing but i came up with a solution and that was to not actually be on the swing but to move the camera as if i was swinging, this meant that i was standing and moving the camera whilst holding it steady with both my hands; the only real risk avoided there.

Editing

Editing is a vital process when making a music video, if not done properly it can make the video uninteresting to watch, disturb the flow of the video and even become distracting when watching the video. If there are lots of fast cuts and extreme effects in a music video for a very slow song then it won't work the video would be unsuited for that song and vice versa. So as my song choice has quite an unusual varying pace, i found it difficult to find the right balance in the editing process when it came to the tempo of the cuts and the video. During the editing process i used two programs, Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects.

Premiere Pro

This is the program used to assemble all of the footage together and the transitions and some of the effects were added here. With this tool bar i was able to manipulate the footage, cut it down and stretch it for example.

The most commonly used tool i used was the cut tool, every piece of footage i filmed was always much longer than was needed. This was to ensure that i had enough, because if you have to much you can always cut it down but if you don't have enough footage then there is little you can do without effecting the quality of the footage.

As you can see from the picture below the timeline for the video is constructed from all different clips of varying lengths and some of the are different colours at the top, this means that they have had an effect put on them. The effects could be edit transitions, like at the end of the video there is like a montage of the times the characters spend together so i added some of the edits rather than having a simple cut i added fade outs and wash outs to bring a bit of variation to the edits. I added these transitions by going to the effects tool bar at the side and then selecting video transitions and from there picking the effects and dragging it onto the clips i wanted it to effect and i could change when the effect came in and when it ended on the clip.

Premiere Pro is the main place where all of the clips are assembled but not all of the clips have to be put straight on there and effected on premiere pro; this is where the other program i used comes in After effects.

After Effects

After Effects is where i edited all of my green screen footage. It has the facilities that Premiere pro doesn't so i had to use this one. It works on much the same basis but its function is to add effects to footage not to put the footage all together like the Premiere Pro.

Here is a picture of the original footage i took from in front of the green screen, we can see Paul playing the guitar in front of the green screen, i need to remove the green and insert the footage of the fast moving cars behind him. So to do this i go to the effects list and select keying then keylight 1.2 and another window pops up where i have to make sure that it know what colour i want it to remove which is green. Once the green is removed i have a cut out or Paul and a empty background ready for me to insert the other footage.

To do this i import the footage of the cars and then drag it down onto the timeline making sure that it is below the the footage of paul playing the guitar on the list so that the footage is shown behind the cut out guitarist footage and as a result providing a background where the green screen used to be. It then looks like this and is ready to be exported ad imported onto Premiere Pro.

Cloning

Cloning was another effect that i used After Effects to create. Cloning is when there is more than one of the same character one particular place. I used this effect for one specific line in the song "one and one and one is three", as the singer says the line two more of him walk in shot. It gave more emphasis to the line and is something interesting to watch.

The important thing to know when ur cloning is to not have the characters interacting with one another because that would complicate things immensley. If they were to hug or high five or come into contact with one another if not done perfectley then this would look really bad and ruin the illusion u have created with the effect.

So i filmed three different sets of footage infront of the green screen, with me in the different places, one centre screen and then two entering from either side of the screen to say their line. Once this footage was captured it became a matter of using the keylight effect and removing the green screen from each of the clips as i had done before with the guitar sequence and then layering and positioning them on the timeline so that the charaters come in at the correct time.

Production log

The day was a monday, i was aiming to film the majority if not the whole of the beginning section of the video on that day. I had myself and the main character ready to go and three hours to film. The beginning of the video is the man on his own walking round, so thats what we did, went for a walk. The very begging part of the video is the man getting ready so we see him do up his tie, put on his jacket, fasten a button, brush his shoulder (all extreme close ups) and then the following shot is him leaving the house. The door closing in time to the last drum beat before the first verse begins. So we filmed all of those shots very easily, as they all were quite simple my actor didnt feel embarrased so we flew past those bits. Afterwards we just went for a walk, filming bits that i thought would be interesting to watch, there was a little bit of structure but not alot, we freelanced a little bit. We started off with the filming of the feet that would definately be used in the video because well it doesnt really matter where that was filmed, we did this on route to the locations. Some of the filming of the legs and of behind the actor i took while he wasnt paying attention, this allowed me to get the neccessary footage without him looking all stiff or forced/like he'd been told to walk and he didnt get camera shy. Agin some of this was on route to other locations. Then we went to a bridge at the bottom of my road and i managed to tick a whole load of shots off my list, i got several different angles; him walking through shot, long shot of him on the bridge while i was filming from the ground, behind him, close ups, medium shots, following shots and others. Then we went down a few alleys, to a park, behind some garages and i got more footage of just general walking. I think on that day i managed to get enough footage for the beginning of the video easily. The tricky bit was still to come ...

... The rest of the attempts ive made to try and get footage have all been in vein, i have been severley let down by people on several occasions. As a result my progress has grinded to a halt, as the rest of the video includes other people following the main character and this is exceedingly difficult to film if you dont have the people that follow to film. So with just the beginig of my video filmed and the threat of the weather turning snowy and ruining my continuity im am in danger of not being able to get the rest of my footage. I waited out the snow filming all the green screen parts whilst waiting; the singers parts, instrumental pieces and the individuals chorus lines for the group multiscreen chorus. When the weather did finally clear up i was able to go and film the rest of the video, i got all of the girls alone walking parts and the together scenes filmed in one day, with the content being walking i could film inbetween traveling to locations which cut down the time it took to get all the footage. I then kept the camera and took it down to work and out to places to get more individuals singing the chorus line. After that i took the camera down to dartford town centre and filmed the movement of the public to go on the green screen behind the singer and guitarist; this took about two hours to do. Overall i found that the filming process was long and as a result of my original plan not working out i struggled when i had to change it because all of my planning, the storyboard, shot list and production schedule were for the original idea. Although despite all of the problems that occured i felt that i managed to get the footage needed for the new idea in an efficient way and if it wasn't for the bad weather i would have got it all filmed a little quicker.

Change of Plan

Unfortunately due to some difficulties shooting the originally planned music video for the Beatles "Come Together" i have had to change my plans and make go down a whole new direction. This involves a completely different idea for the video which will be hopefully less complecated and more successful.

The New Idea

My new idea for my music video is a bit easier to shoot, i had problems getting the camera and people in the different locations needed for the original idea so this time i have decided to keep the locations of the shoots alot easier to get to and hopefully this will lead to me having a better chance of getting the footage. My new idea involves a man going for a walk, that sounds waay to simple but the twist that will make the video hoepfully more interesting to watch is the introduction of colour that the main character brings. The world is going to be monotone, and he is the colour, that is the reason the people want to come together around him. So he leaves his house into the black and white world and he imediately stands out, this turns heads of the other colourless people and they decide to follow this man. As they do they too become colourful untill there is a large band of colour in the world. The people are "Coming Together" over this man and the colour he brings to their lives.

Insfluences

I got the idea of using colour as a tool from the lilly allen music video for her song "LDN" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmYT79tPvLg&feature=related

This video plays with colour and with the scenery but i am more interested in the colour side of it. I also like the way it has been filmed, the shots of the feet walking and her walking through shot. I would like to try and implement those shots in my video.

I am also interested in creating an air of mystery for the main charater, make him a little bit of an enigma. To do this i have looked at the BBC One show "A Question of Sport" and their mystery guest round. http://www.youtube.com/watchv=wtAQ0nuvWw0&NR=1

I love the way they film these to make it as challenging as possible to work out who it is; i think that it would be a nice addition to my video and to just know the main character as the man who brings the colour, and then at the end reveal who it is. This doesn't mean to say i will have anyone of real stature in my video, no celebrities unfortunately but it will be an inclusion that will hopefully make my video stand out as something a little different.

I would also like to include split screens and possibly a little bit of cloning just to have a few more things to keep the viewer visually interested in the video.

Examples of these two effects are here:

Split Screen- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8k7xJBXv30

Cloning- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS088Opj9o0

So with these ideas and with the new redesigned music video hopefully i will do better in getting the footage i need.

Asset List

Camera

Tape for the camera

Tripod

Props:

sandwiches

newspaper

phones

Costume:

main guy in a suit

Shot List

Shot 1: Wide shot- 3 sec

Shot 2: long shot- 3 sec

Shot 3: Medium shot -2 secs

Shot 4: Close up- 1 sec

Shot 5: Cloe up- 1 sec

Shot 6: Close up -1 sec

Shot 7: Close up - 1 sec

Shot 8: P.O.V - 2 secs

Shot 9: Close up - 1/2 seconds

Shot 10: Close up - length of line

Shot 11: long shot - 2 secs

Shot 12: extreme close up - 2 secs

Shot 13: close up - length of line "He one.."

Shot 14: Close up - length of line "... holy roller"

Shot 15: Close up - length of line "he got hair.... down ... to his knee"

Shot 16: Medium long shot - 2 sec - 29 seconds into song

Shot 17: Medium shot - 2 secs

Shot 18: Medium shot - 2/3 secs

Shot 19: Pans over to notice board: 2/3 secs

Shot 20: Close up - 1/2 secs

Shot 21: Close up -1 sec

Shot 22: Medium shot - 2 secs

Shot 23: Close up of post it notes x3 - 1 second each

Shot 24: Medium shot - 2 secs

Shot 25: Long shot - 1 sec

Shot 26: Long/medium shot - 2/3 secs

Shot 27: Close up - 3/4 secs

Shot 28: Long shot - length of line "toe jam football"

Shot 29: Long shot - 2 secs

Shot 30: Close up - 2 secs

Shot 31: Close up -1 sec

Shot 32: Extremne close up - 1 sec

Shot 33: Close up of guys face - 1 sec

Shot 34: Close up - 2 secs

Shot 35: Medium of pages on floor - 2 secs

Shot 36: Close up - 1 sec

Shot 37: Close up of photo mans face - 2 secs

Shot 38: Medium of photo man - length of line "i know you ..."

Shot 39: Reaction shot - 1 sec

Shot 40: medium of photo man - length ofline "you know me"

Shot 41: medium/long of real man - 1 sec

Shot 42: Close up of photo mans face - length of line "one thing i can tell you"

Shot 43: Long shot of paper on floor as photo man hops up them and turns into a bird- 5 secs Shot 44: Long shot of noticeboard- 1 sec

Shot 45: Close up of post it note x2 - length of line "come together"

Shot 46: long shot - 1 sec

Shot 47: Close up of post it x2 - 1 sec each

Shot 48: Medium shot - 1 sec

Shot 49: medium of photo frame - 2/3 secs

Shot 50: Close up of phot frame - 2/3 secs

Shot 51: Medium shot of real man - 1 sec

Shot 52: Close up of photo man - "shoot me"

Shot 53: Close up - 1 sec

Shot 54: Extreme close up - "shoot me"

Shot 55: Medium shot - 1 sec

Shot 56: Extreme close up - "Shoot me"

Shot 57: Long shot zooming in - 3/4 secs

Shot 58: Close up of photot frame - "he bad production"

Shot 59: Close up x3 - 2 sec overall

Shot 60: medium shot - "walrus gumboot"

Shot 61: Medium of photo frame - 1 sec

Shot 62: Close up of photo man - "oh no ..."

Shot 63: Medim shot - "sideboard"

Shot 64: Close up of photo people - "he one ..."

Shot 65: Close up of photo girls face - "spinal cracker"

Shot 66: Medium of real man - 1 sec

Shot 67: Mediumof photo frame - 2 sec

Shot 68: Close up of feet - 1 sec

Shot 69: Close up of face - 1 sec

Shot 70: Split screen of both real and photo men - 2 secs

Shot 71: close up of real guys feet - 1 sec

Shot 72: Medium of face - 1 sec

Shot 73: Long of phot frame - 2 secs

Shot 74: Long shot - 2 secs

Shot 75: Close up of phot people - 1 sec

Shot 76: Extreme close up - "Disease"

Shot 77: Close up of real man - 1 sec

Shot 78: Medium of photo man - 2 sec

Shot 79: Long of photo people - "come together"

Shot 80: Long of photo girl - 1 sec

Shot 81: Long of real man - 1 sec

Shot 82: Long of photo people x2 - "right now"

Shot 83: Long of photo frame zoomng in till close up of phoo mans face - 3 secs

Shot 84: long of man - "over me"

Shot 85: Long of photo people - 1 sec

Shot 86: Close ups x2 -2 secs

Shot 87: Long shot of office - 1 sec

Shot 88: Medium of real man - 2 sec

Shot 89: Close up of mans hand - 2 secs

Shot 90: Close up of face - "right"

Shot 91: Close up of desk - 2 secs

Shot 92: Close up of frame on floor photo guy jumps out - 2/3 sec

Shot 93: Close up of keyboard - 2/3 secs

Shot 94: medium of real man - 1/2 secs

Shot 95: long of office - 1/2 secs

Shot 96: Close up of keyboard - 2/3 secs

Shot 97: Medium of man n desk - 2 secs

Shot 98: close up of photo girl - 1 sec

Shot 99: Close up of keyboard n mouse - 2 secs

Shot 100: Medium shot of man - 2/3 secs

Shot 101: Close up of keyboard n hands - 2 secs

Shot 102: Long of noticeboard - 1/2 secs

Shot 103: Medium of man - 1 sec

Shot 104: Close up of desk - 2 secs

Shot 105: Medium of photo girl - 1 sec

Shot 106: Medium of real man - 1 sec

Shot 107: Long shot of office - 1 sec

Shot 108: Close up of desk - 3 secs

Shot 109: Long of photo frame, the man reappearing in the picture - 2 secs

Shot 110: Long of office - 2 secs S

hot 111: Close up of frame being picked up - 2 secs

Shot 112: Medium of real man - 1 sec

Shot 113: Close up of frame - 2 secs

Shot 114: Medium of photo man - 2 secs

Shot 115: Medium of photo people - "early warning"

Shot 116: Long of office - 1 sec

Shot 117: Long of real man - 2 secs

Shot 118: medium of man n desk - 2 secs

Shot 119: close up of frame - 1 sec

Shot 120: Long of photo man - "mojo filter"

Shot 121: medium of real man - 1 sec

Shot 122: Long of photo frame - 2 secs

Shot 123: long of office - 1 sec

Shot 124: Long of office bt closer in - 2 secs

Shot 125: P.O.V - "one"

Shot 126: close up - 1 sec

Shot 127: P.O.V - "one"

Shot 128: close up - 1 sec

Shot 129: P.O.V "one"

Shot 130: Close up - 1 sec

Shot 131: long shot of office - "is"

Shot 132: P.O.V - "three"

Shot 133: close up -1 sec

Shot 135: P.O.V - 1 sec

Shot 136: close up - 1 sec

Shot 137: P.O.V - 1 sec

Shot 138: Long shot of office -2 secs

Shot 139: Close up of photo frame being picked up - 1 sec

Shot 140: close up of photo people back as a photo again - "together"

Shot 141: Medium shot - 1/2 secs

Shot 142: Close up - 1 sec

Shot 143: Medium long shot 2 secs

Shot 144: Medium of desk - 1sec

Shot 145: Close up of photo guy - 1 sec

Shot 146: Close up of photo girl - 1 sec

Shot 147: Close up of real guy - 1 sec

Shot 148: Long shot of office - 2 secs

Shot 149: Close up - 1 sec

Shot 150 Long shot of office - 1/2 secs

Shot 151: long shot of notice board: 1 sec

Shot 152: Close up x2 - 1 sec each

Shot 153: close up of face - 1 sec

Shot 154: Close up x2 - 1 sec each

Shot 155: close up of face - 1 sec

Shot 156: Long shot - 2 secs

Shot 157: medium shot of mess - 1 sec

Shot 158: Close up of face - 1 sec

Shot 159: Long shot of office - 2 secs

Shot 160: Close up of papers on floor - 1 sec

Shot 161: Long of man picking up papers - 2 secs

Shot 162: Medium of putting papers back on desk - 2 secs

Shot 163: Close up of photo man moving head - 1 sec

Shot 164: Close up of real man doing a double take - 2 secs

Shot 165: Close up of still photo frame - 1 sec

Shot 166: Mediuj of man - 1 sec

Shot 167: P.O.V long of office - 1 sec

Shot 168: medium shot - 1 sec

Shot 169: Long shot of office - 2 secs

Shot 170: long of man at desk - 2 secs

Shot 171: Close up on computer - 1 sec

Shot 172: Close up on computer screen - 2 secs

Shot 173: Close up on mans face - 1 sec

Shot 174: Close up of computer screen - "come together"

Shot 175: medium of man - "yeah"

Shot 176: Close up of computer screen - 1/2 secs

Shot 177: Close up of photo frame - 1/2 secs

Shot 178: Close up of photo man face - "come together"

Shot 179: close up of real mans face- "yeah"

Shot 180: Long of photo frame slowly zooming in and fading out - till song finishes

Production Schedule

For the production of my music video, I am going to need the camera to film several different sections; There is the footage of the real guy, the footage of the photo guy and the footage for the other images around the room (on the notice board). As a result of these different sections I propose that I film them in those sections, first the real guy in the office on maybe the first day, there’s not a lot of lip syncing in those sections so it shouldn’t take more than a day to film.

20^th of October will be the set day for this, it will most likely take all day to film this so with the exception of a few breaks and a lunch, with this being all in one location it will be relatively quick to film. The filming should start at 10:00/10:30 n I should be finished filming this sections by 4:00/5:00.

The longer part of the process is going to be the filming for the photo guy, he has a lot of lip syncing and there are a lot of effects that need to be produced, like leaving one image and then entering another, although that will be edited together later it will still have to be carefully filmed. As a result of this being the more intricate part of the video to film and with the requirement of a destination that this will need to be filmed over more than one day to make sure that it is done properly.

As this will need more than one day to be complete i think that two consecutive days would be better and as i work on the weekends it wouldn't be possible to do that then. So I'm aiming to get this filming done on the following monday and tuesday 25th and 26th of october; by then everyone should be available to do the filming. With the getting to the location for the photo setting filming probably wont start till 11:00 and will aim to finish before it gets dark so maybe 5:00.

The other little images and pieces that’ll be moving will need to be filmed again on separate days, they will be located from many different places and with many different people so these will be subject to availability as to when these are filmed but these to will be filmed during the holidays so there will be plenty of occasions for these pieces to be filmed.

Asset List

Filming Equipment

Recording Camera

Photo Camera

Tripod

Tape for the camera

Props

Pill bottle

Chair

Papers of work

Photo frame

Notice board

Poster

Computer with peripherals (mouse and keyboard)

Costume

Suit for office man

Wig for photo man

Jokers/clown outfit for poster man

Album Cover Analysis

As i am creating more than just a music video but a digipack and magazine advertisement as well i felt that it was important i took a look at some album covers to get some ideas for when i needed to do that part of the coursework. So it took a look at 2 covers that principally had the same idea but looked very different to appeal to their target audience.

Music Video Analysis

I did some research to help me with the development of my storyboard and with getting ideas for my own vision of how i wanted the video to look, what genres I wanted to portray and what i would need to include to appeal to my target audience. I first looked at an indie/rock band called "Kids in Glass Houses" and then i looked at some classic rock with "Queen"; i feel that by looking at these two videos i got a general idea of how other videos in my songs genre look and also what the modern day style of those genres is portrayed.

Storyboarding

Now that I have been given the go ahead with my ideas, it is time to put together a general picture ofwhat is going to happen in the music video. A visual shot by shot plan of what is going to happen. So i got drawing and came up with a storyboard that showed me exactly what shots i needed to get and how long they would be on screen for; this gave me strong guidelines to then go on and make the video. Here are some examples of the storyboards i produced: In the first picture we see close ups of the photo couples face looking shocked, long shot of the area then we see the man knock the picture frame onto the floor, the photo an jumps out of the frame and into the keyboard (making the keys move) the man then tries to stop the keys from moving.

After all of these were drawn up and put into the correct sequence i created a video to give me a real timescale as to how it would look with the music with it.

Final Idea Pitch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcQGtigeadM

The track I selected to do is "come together" by the Beatles. Its quite a slow song but I felt that the lyrics would give me some good visual images. The song was written to help a political campaign for Timothy Leary. He was famous for experimenting with LSD, and strongly believed that if taken correctly it had positive effects. When the government made a crack down on LSD users, he was arrested and afterwards decided he wanted to run for governor of California. He asked John Lennon to write him a campaign song, "Come Together, join the party" was Leary's slogan. Timothy Leary's campaign never really worked very well but the slogan gave Lennon an idea for this song. So lennon went away and wrote this song, the lyrics are "gobbledygook" and are quite interesting. So I feel this gives me license to be quite abstract and surreal and a little bit random with what I put into the video.

Style and Influences For my video I didn't really start off with a narrative idea so I tried to get a general style idea, and I started looking at other Beatles songs and quite like the look of the videos for "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and a couple other Beatles songs. I like the surreal look of the videos, they are pretty trippy looking which I feel would suit the song I've chosen. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7F2X3rSSCUw.youtube.com/watch?v=A7F2X3rSSCU

This image is from the video and you can see that it has an interesting combination of colour and styles. The grey, statue looking figures are slightly less cartoony in comparison to the figure moving. The look of it is quite surreal and i would like my video to hold the same sort of feeling. I also looked at the Terry Gilliam and Monty Python animations. The Flying Circus, Dancing teeth, televisions bad for your eyes. These have the same sort of randomness to them that is included in the Beatles videos and I think that the animation, cut out picture style is would be easier to achieve than that in the beatles videos. Monty python animation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1BKtrG7qxQ&NR=1

So having looked at cut out animations I thought that maybe some live action in a cut out would be a good idea, so i started looking round for videos that might include this to see if it would be a good visual effect to include; and i found the song "Nothin' on you" by B.O.B. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PTDv_szmLo

I think that it would fit in with the rest of the style choices I have made for the video, and also allows me to include some live action, not just animated cut outs. I think that I am gonna create a rather artsy looking video, I was also thinking I could include some sort of split screens, to create maybe some sort of comic book/lots of pictures piled up look. The closest I could find was a video by Velvet Revolver called "Come on come in". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8k7xJBXv30&feature=related

A screen shot from the velvet revolver video which shows the kind of thing i could include, this shot showcases more than one visual style which i could include, on the right the pop art look, the black n white/washed out colour one in the left and the normal one in the centre. All styles i could use and in a simple lay out too.

Narrative Idea Now the style has been sorted out I need a narrative idea for the music video, I need a story for it. With the effects i want to use I think that a video with many images in it would be a good idea, so I think that a situation or a location that would include lots of photo's or pieces of work would be a good idea. Location then would be something key to decide, an office or workspace maybe, then I could have a notes board full of post-stick notes and photos and then the guy could knock some papers over then I would have more surfaces to work with and images to create. So an office would then mean an office worker, he is working either late or early because the rest of the offices are empty. As the song has a drug related background the guy could have taken some drugs which then cause him to hallucinate; they could be anti-depressant drugs that have a side-effect of hallucination if too many are taken because, well an office job is hardly one of the most interesting or happy jobs out there. So the plot so far is, a depressed office worker is working late one night and he takes too many of his medication, which then causes him to hallucinate and the photo's, notes and pieces of work, his computer screen, mobile phone and other bits and pieces come to life, a little like the photo's and portraits in Harry Potter. The video is going to be shot from the guys perspective once he starts hallucinating. I feel that this idea would give me enough license to be as random as the lyrics are.

Other Ideas I have another idea, this one is more influenced by the songs title "come together". This is essentially what would be in the video, people coming together. I was thinking about following one character and then throughout the video he gets joined by more and more people until there is a huge crowd of people all together in one place in a celebration of togetherness. The potential problem here though is the availability of all the people needed to have a crowd. Another idea is a coming together of two people, friends or lovers it would work with either. We follow two people that are lonely and sad until they meet and then we see them spending time together and being happy.

Initial Pitches

Blur’s Parklife single was released in 1994, it is 3minutes 5 seconds long so fits the criteria comfortably. I think that this song has a lot of potential for creative development when it comes to the music video, also the way it is performed is more like talking than singing so this would make the chosen actor for the video feel slightly less embarrassed. My idea for the video is quite a simple one really; it’s basically just having a good time in the park. There are many pieces of apparatus in a park to include (swings, roundabouts, climbing frames. Etc.) Which would produce many interesting visual images. I was also thinking of including some split screens, and obvious wipes; things like when the singer passes on the roundabout as he passes he brings another scene behind him, replacing the roundabout scene. It is an up beat song so a lot of cuts would be necessary. Here is the link to the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSuHrTfcikU

Stayin’ Alive I think would be a fun video to make because it is quite a funny song, with the singers high pitched voice I think would make creating it a laugh. It would have the traditional style, the costume of the main person would be like flared trousers and like an Elvis style open chested shirt, this outfit in a contempory setting/backdrop would create an interesting piece of imagery. The idea I had for the video is in tandem with the name of the song “Stayin’ Alive”, its about a guy on his way to somewhere maybe a night out, walking down somewhere public with some other people trying to stop him getting to his location. The person dances and dodges the obstacles, and attempts to thwart his night out. The imagery I have in my head is to have a bit of juxtaposition and have a large, stocky or well built person to have the main role this image with the high pitched voice I think would add some quirkiness to the video, show my own little take on the song. The song is 3 minutes 55 seconds long (although the copy I have is 4 minutes 45) and was released in 1977 so it fits the criteria. I quite like the song, it’s a classic song with quite a vivid style which with the little quirks I intend to include would create a twist on that original style and bring it slightly into the more modern era, and also add a more comical side to the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHWeuQyFouo

Come Together is a song by The Beatles so is well in the safety zone for the criteria, it is 4 minutes 18 long so there is enough time to have a decent narrative to the video I was thinking of having like a dream-based video, this rather geeky looking kid goes to bed and has a dream about being really cool; the lyrics are the talk amongst the crowds he gathers as he walks down the street. I’ll try n get an air of mystery on the guy when he’s in the dream because the lyrics are like hyping up/describing this person. Extreme close ups will be used a fair bit when on the dream guy but the shots will vary when on the crowds and on the main guy who’s singing like the main person spreading the word on this enigma. Then at the end he wakes up and the cycle is complete, he’s had a taste of the good life and now its all back to normal. I was kind of thinking of the dream guy being quite modern but in an old market place setting to make him stand out even more. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBmAgC1PCyI

Here is my finished edit to the song Bad Touch by Bloodhound Gang, it was definitely a big learning experience for me. I can now see the large amount of work needed to create just a one minute video and can then anticipate the amount of work needed for a 3 minute video. Despite the amount of work, the prancing about in a monkey costume and the tediousness of editing, i found the whole experience to be quite enjoyable.

Filming: The filming process was very long, the weather conditions weren't ideal for us in the monkey costumes, it was very hot and towards the end of the first day filming we lost patience and concentration. At first i found it tricky to get past the embarrasment barrier, to keep a straight face and not laugh during sequences was a challenge. Keeping a straight face and being professional right up until the shot is safely captured is very important, during the editing so many shots were unusable because someone smirked or started laughing towards the end, which at that stage is frustrating. I feel that the filming could have gone a lot smoother, i feel that the planning we did didn't prepare us properly for the actual filming. Although i don't think that i concentrated on the planning enough because we were given a storyboard to fill in with shots and shot lengths, but i did a half-hearted job with it. As a result i didn't really know what was going on during the filming and it made the whole process longer than it should have been. On the upside though i felt that during the filming we worked well as a team to get the job done as effectively as possible, we all took turns with the cameras and there was a general good cohesion in the group.

Editing: The editing process i found easier than i thought it would be, although long and tedious at times i thought that it would have been much worse/harder. I feel i got to grips with the software pretty quickly and found it simple enough to cut, and use the effects like flipping the image. The only thing i found hard was the lip syncing and as you can see in my video it jumps a little bit on the line "coming quicker than fed-ex, never reach an apex"; this is because Hannah said the line too slowly and when i then sped up the clip it didn't take up the right amount of space and there was a gap, i then had to drag the clip to the needed length but that didn't really work and it now jumps. Other than that i think that the editing went well and i did an alright job.