Blog 9 - The pitch

This blog includes a video of our pitch ,(attachment below). The pitch is intended to persuade the artists record company to hire us to create the video for The Streets. The pitch is created on PowerPoint and includes images, graphs, and ideas of what our video is going to include. Me and my partner whom I'm working with the presented our PowerPoint presentation to the class. Link to the powerpoint presentation: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B7hZWTkEhQ07MGQwYjU5OTUtODYzZC00NDI5LWE4NzctYTI0ZDhmZWQyNTZk&hl=en Link to the pitch: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B7hZWTkEhQ07ZjAyZDU2OWUtNDJmOS00MGM4LTg2ZGYtN2FjNzY5ZDI4ZTVh&hl=en

Blog 8 - Initial ideas

In this blog we are going to be thinking of ideas about how we are going to make our video. Taking in to consideration what the storyline is going to be, camera shots, the colour of the video and props that we may wish to include in our video. I have thought of ideas by producing a mind map, which is below, (click to enlarge).

By producing this mind map we now have a clearer idea of what we are going to include in out video, also have now been able to start thinking about how certain shots and scenes in the video are going to look like. Our video is going to be shot in black and white, we having chosen to do this because the mood of the song is very meaningful and daunting, therefore a dull colour will reflect this attitude.

Blog 7 - Copying an existing video

In this blog i am going to be developing knowledge on how a camera is meant to be properly operated, and what is required to shoot a music video. Doing this by copying and existing film that has already been produced. I am going to be doing this with my fellow peers that are in the same Media Studies class as me. We are going to be working together to re-enact the song '' Whetus - Teenage Dirt bag''. This song has been chosen because the video has been shot in a high school. The video being shot in this location makes it a lot similar for us to shoot because we can do i t during lessons without have to travel off campus because the college we our is already an appropriate location to shoot, as it corresponds to the High school in the video. We will be filming our video on a video camera that is going to be placed securely on to a tripod. A tripod will help to stabilise the shot and limit and movement or shaking of the camera. This is my storyboard. A story board is crucial when filming a video, this is because it allows the video to be planned shot by shot. Each individual section of the storyboard contains: a image, the shot type (ie, close up, medium shot, long shot or extreme close up) , camera movement (ie static or dynamic), description of the action (what will happen in the shot), sound or audio (referring to the lyrics in the song).

Before undertaking any test filming i was shown how to use a shooting script. A shooting script helps to monitor the effectiveness of the shot that has just been taken. The shooting script is similar to the storyboard in that it details the shot type and camera movements etc, but the shooting script also had a space for writing brief notes about each take of every shot that i have filmed. I was also shown how to use a clapperboard, a clapperboard is put in front of the camera before a shot is about to be filmed. The clapperboard contains the shot number and the take number, eg shot 1 take 1. Clapperboards and shooting scripts should be used in conjunction with each other to monitor which shots were suitable for use in editing.

I was also shown how to direct a shot. A director helps to keep everyone/everything on the set running smoothly by letting all of the participants know whet they are meant to be doing. i was the director, and was working with the camera operator to set up each shot, we then got the actors in to position, and shouted 'action' to let the actors know that we are about to start filming. During this process i also learnt how to setup a camera properly. The first stage was mounting the tripod, this enables stability for the camera when filming. It is useful for for zooming, panning and tilting the camera. The tripods at college have a spirit level on them which enables you to position the camera on a flat surface.

i learnt how to set the white balance on the camera. This has to be done suit the conditions that are being filmed in, whether in or outside. As the camera reacts to differently depending on the light conditions when filming outside the white balance has to be set to 'daytime filming', otherwise the footage might end up having a blue tinge to it.

The exposure of the camera should be set up using the manual settings on the camera, this is because using manual settings gives more control over how light or dark the footage is. The exposure can be changed using a combination of the shutter speed, aperture and gain.

The frame size can be changed to be like a widecreen film, which is called a 16:9 ratio. The normal camera setting is set to the standard frame size ratio of 4:3. Which ever ratio used ypu can apply the rule of thirds to help you compose the frame.

Depth of feild is also important when filming a music video. Depth of field refers to the focal range of the camera and can be used to centre the audiences attention on a particular part of the frame, by having it in focus whilst the rest of the shot is blurred. This is called a shallow or narrow depth of field.

Here is a link to our group testing film of the video:

http://blackboard.sussexdowns.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_654_1%26url%3D

Blog 6 - Video analysis

In this blog i am going to be analysing two videos that have already been made by 'The streets'. I am going to be examining: genre, representation, narrative, audience, and what story the video portrays. The two music videos that i am going to be examining are, ''Dry your eyes'' and ''fit but you know it''. I will be posting a link of the video that has been taken from youtube.com.

The Streets - Dry your eyes
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+streets+dry+your+eyes&aq=2
''Dry your eyes'' is a UK garage (hiphop) song. The song is about a male who has just split up with his girlfriend, and the male trying to deal with the brake up.

The video relates to the depressing lyrics and tempo of the song. This has been portrayed by having dark lighting throughout the length of the video.Also Mike Skinner's body language stays low and glum for the full length of the video. This video attracts consumers who are fans of the band and enjoy listening them, also may attract consumers who enjoy watch/listening too UK garage. This particular video may also attract men that are going through the same ordeal that the male (Mike Skinner) is in the video. The video goes against the stereotype of a young male of not showing emotion, because the video consists of Mike Skinner looking depressed throughout. Mike Skinner does not leave his dog in the video which suggests that he is now lonely and his girlfriend was his only human contact because the dog is the only living thing besides Mike in the video, he does not have any friends comforting him in the video.

The Streets - Fit but you know it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPbNMLwmxYkatch?v=rPbNMLwmxYk
This song/video also fits in to the UK garage (hiphop) genre. The music video consists of the lead singer (Mike Skinner) meeting a girl who is greatly marred by her self-estimation. Throughout the video Mike walks into various places, and remains singing the lyrics to the song, and imagines the girl in his head throughout,which relates to the lyrics of the song. This video would have been watched by fans who enjoy listening too the band/genre and are maybe interested in what the girl from the song looks and acts like in the video.


By looking at videos by The Streets i can now have greater knowledge of how they shoot and that all of their videos follow the storyline of the lyrics in the song. The videos are also pretty budget and are also shot in the England, meaning that my video will have the same style to the streets previous videos.