Final Product

After many hours of hard work, I am proud to say that the video above is our final product, a music video to Evanescence's 'Bring Me To Life'. This version of the video can be found on YouTube and had been posted on my own Facebook page, from this we have recieved some great feedback which has made me feel extremely happy to see that all of our hardwork has paid off and that people have enjoyed watching our video, recieving comments such as 'This is just...wow! Well done'. Now all that hard work has paid off, sit back and enjoy Forgetting Last Friday's video 'Bring Me To Life'.

Rough Cut 2

This is the second rough cut of our video. We showed this to our teacher Mrs Thrasher and got some really good feedback which will help us progress that bit further to establish a higher grade.

Changes that were suggested:

• 00:51 - Sitting on the floor - possibly longer as this holds more suspense than the blackout
• 01:00 - Centre the shot as the singer is to one side of the screen
• 01:12 - When she is going down the stairs she should progress further
• 01:35 - More of the artist as this is what the audience are watching to see
• 02:00 - Maybe change the shot
• 02:20 - Zoom in closer
• 02:50 - Maybe change the shot
• 02:55 - Zoom in or make the shot longer
• 03:00 - I think this part is slightly out of sync 

Production-Final Album Cover

This post shows how I produced my final album cover using the software Photoshop.

Firstly I found and manipulated the colours of the picture of the forest, by this I changed the hue and saturation, contrast and brightness. 

Next I uploaded and copied the pictures of the mushrooms, this added the idea of fantasy to the image.

Then I added a layer above the background image, it was black and then changed the opacity, this created a darker feel to the image. 

The shadow of the wolf was then added, this was one done through the blending options and colour filled it with black and then changed the opacity. 

Then the final text was added using the font 'beyond wonderland' and the image of Little Red Riding Hood.

Back of the cover:

On photoshop I have manipulated  the image of the forest in terms of hue and saturation, brightness and contrast. This image has been reversed to reflect that we are now looking at a different perspective (from the back).

Then I added another layer to the image, it was black then I edited the opacity to add the eery feel to the forest. Then I used the same image of the wolf but put it in the foreground to show that this is from a different perspective of the front image.

Then the fonts of the production info, band name and websites were added to the back.

Lastly the track last was added including vital details found on the back cover such as the track length, performers and producers.

Final Album Artwork

My final album artwork is a development from the following preliminary design:

This design developed to this front cover:

After studying into postmodernism I thought of the idea to create my album cover to highlight aspects of postmodernism as the famous fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood is portrayed. The reasons for my decision to reflect Little Red Riding Hood is that the tale includes death and deceit, which can be thought of a code of the music genre. Also it highlights the idea of fantasy which is associated with the gothic genre. The image created of Little Red Riding Hood in the forest with the shadow of the wolf also composes a a contrasting image between the two characters as she is shown to be innocent and the wolf to be dark and a scary creature. If this was to be put on the shelves in the shop I think that this would stand out due to colours and the obvious association made with the tale. Within this cover I have also adopted the conventions of  album covers such as the title of the album, bands name and the parental advisory sign. 

The back of the cover: 

The back of the cover is a continuation of the front as it is the same image of the back cover. The conventions adopted on the back are the track list, barcodes, production information and company details.

Responses from the Showcase

After showing our first rough cut version of the video at the class showcase we recieved some great feedback and helpful constructive criticism which will help us to progress to create a really good end product, hopefully. Our fellow classmates had to fill in an audience feedback sheet which had the following questions on:

• What was especially good about the music video?
• Would you watch this again? If yes why, if no, why not?
• Did you notices any serious issues such as continuity errors, strange edits-Did anything not make sense to you?

 Here is some of the feedback that as a group we recieved:

• What was especially good about the music video?

'The quick cuts at the end of the video'

'Editing on the beat'

'It made sense, looked very professional'

'Good use of colour corrector'

'Great closing shot'

• Would you watch this again? If yes, why, if no, why not?

'Yes, I like the song'

'Yes-Brilliant'

'Yes, good shots and edits'

'Yes, there was an element of suspense created, you leanr about the character which makes you want to watch more'

• Did you notice any serious issues such as continuity errors, strange edits-Did anything not make sense to you?

'There were some shots missing'

'Within the chours the quick edits weren't used, I had lost interest'

'Some shots were too long'

'The field shots get to repetitive'

Rough Cut of the Video

This is version of the video that we showed within our showcase, all the comments that were made on the video was on this version of how we shall improve and finish.

Filming the performance

We have been working really hard on filming the performance part for our video, as this was a common comment on the responses after the showcase. As we were unable to use the drama space after school due to the space being used for GCSE drama plays. Howevere to every cloud there is a silver lining and for us this was in the form of the stage in the hall still being set up from the dance show, meaning black floor and black curtains, perfect! We stayed behind till 5:15 and filmed everything that we needed. Also a comment from the showcase was to perform it more to the genre, therefore I had to be more 'angry' and rocky, which I believe I achieved. Overall I feel that this filming session went really well, we even filmed Elliot's part of the narrative. So all we have got left to do now is to import all the performance in Final Cut Express and get editing.

Showcase

Today in class we had an oppertunity to show the rest of our peers and teacher what we have editing and creating in terms of our music video. This showcase allowed us as a group to recieve some really helpful, constrcutive criticism and for ourselves what we still need to do to make it perfect! The rest of the peers responses were all really nice towards our work which was an utter relief because every time I watch it, I still have brace myself before I see myself on screen singing along to Evanescence.
Also by watching everyone elses work was constructive also for the evaluation part of the exam, being able to evaluate work at the level we need to.
Overall I really enjoyed this process and can now learn and work on the parts of the video we need to.

Editing- Update #4

Another update...I am so happy with the progress made on our video, we have pretty much completed editing the whole of the narrative. Due to other circumstances we were not able to film the performance part last week but have decided to do so tomorrow (Wednesday 30/3/2011) after school in drama. We are aiming to have the whole video edited and completed by this time next week, which will be such a relief as the song is starting to give me a headache!!

What I want to achieve from tomorrow's filming.

Tomorrow we are finishing all the filming for our video, and this is what I want to achieve:

• To film the performance in extreme close-ups, close-ups, mid-shot
• To have alot of action within the performance and to reflect the genre of music, therefore to portray current Rock artists.
• To film Elliot singing the male parts of the songs
• To have fun with my group!

'Bring Me to Life' Analysing the original video

Before creating our music video to the chosen song 'Bring me to Life' by Evanescence, I believe that it will be beneficial to analyse to the original video for the song. Hopefully by doing this I will be able to see what codes and conventions of the Rock genre and music videos are used.

 In the first shot of the opening of the video conventions of music videos have been used straight away through emphasized diegetic sounds of the wind and cars, as the camera pans and sweeps through the city sky scape. The slow panning movement is in time with the tempo and pace of the song making it feel almost ghost/spirit like which can be associated with the gothic genre. However this movement can also be decoding as if the audience were on a helicopter which is supported by the helicopter sounds. The camera is constantly moving until we reach the window of a peacefully sleeping girl, as the camera passes through the window into the room the wind sounds are no longer giving the idea of reality.
 As the heavier beat begins the mood of the video changes as we are shown the singer falling which is mirrored by the girl in bed fidgeting representing her discomfort, this suddenly changes the dreamy feel into a nightmare which is coded with the music genre. However as the girl falls she is angelic as her arms out and seems happy to be falling, which is the opposite to what is seen in the bedroom. The music at this point is parallel to the images being shown, despair, fright and scared with is reflected through the heavy guitars. This fright and despair is also shown through the quick edits, which are discomforting to the audience but at the same time reminding that this is a music video, just a show. 
 In some music videos the band and performance is separate from the narrative, this is distinguished through a different setting e.g. a stage. However in this video the performance is part of the narrative as they are set in a room above the bedroom, the setting of sound proofed walls code for the loud music of the genre.
 As a whole the video is set in a dream state and is very unrealistic as all music videos are. This state is constant as no one pays the character attention as she walks along the window ledges and in the editing a ghosting effect has been used. 

Editing- Update #3

So far we have made really good progress with our editting and I am really happy with the way that it is coming together. We have really focussed on editting on the beat and using different filters such as the colour corrector which has allowed us to change the lighting and colour of the footage disconnecting the audience from the narrative as it changes to black and white in a instance. Also by using the colour corrector we have made footage darker, and brighter when in the forest. This colour correction really reflects the conventions and codes of the music genre as the flashses of black and white and different colours represents the heavy music.

Postmodernism- Album Covers

Whilst studying postmodernism we applied our knowledge to album covers which has relevance to the A2 media coursework as we have to create our own. Examples of postmodern album covers are as followed:
The Clash- 'London Calling' 

• Conventionally this album is very traditional as it has the album name, band name and a picture of the artist
• The whole of the album codes youthful frustration which is conveyed through the artist smashing his guitar
• Punk Rock is coded through the costume
• The album has an 'edge' to it, which is reflected through the black and white image however the image also gives it come conviction and a class feel which is a juxtaposition the font used
• The font is very playful, colourful and cartoon like and by this clear juxtaposition draws the attention of the audience to the album
• This cover is an example of an hommage to Elvis's first album as they both have the balck and white image and colourful font
• The seriousness of The Clash's cover shows that it is a recognition and respect to Elvis

Today's Filming

As seen in music video 'Love the way you lie' by Rhianna and Eminem the artists sing in an open field to represent the freedom, which is also associated with our ideas of the music video we are creating. To achieve this we went down onto the school field and filmed some performance. To make sure that lip sycning is good I had to sing along with the track, which was quite embarrasing infront of Jamie and Elliot but I got over it and sang along. We had to film quite a few times as Elliot kept distracting me and making me laugh, this footage could not be used as it does not work for the gothic genre. Overall though I feel as if it all went well and got some good footage that we can use in the video, but we still need to film more in drama studio.

Introduction to Postmodernism

As we are about to sit our A2 level Media exam we have started to learn the content, Postmodernism. Before I share my notes made in class about postmodern album covers and what we have learnt and discussed in class, I have additionally researched online for different definitions of the Postmodern movement.
Follow the links below to the websites which I have found most useful and interesting whilst researching:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism
Glossary Definition: http://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/gengloss/postm-body.html
The Po-Mo page: http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/pomo.html

Postmodernism: relates to the idea that all originality has gone and that it is no longer to create a new piece of art either it being in music or writing (novels).
Intertextuality/Postmodern allusions: making reference/alluding to other meida texts.
Hybridity: merging or clashing or genres.
Parody: mocking to original text e.g. Scary Movie
Intertextuality: a nutural reference.
Hommage: celebrating the original text.

Forgetting Last Friday on MySpace

I have designed and created a MySpace page for my band Forgetting Last Friday.

Within my MySpace page I have included the following:

• A Bio about the band
• All information about the band
• Image of the album covers
• Created an event of the single release date
• A background reflecting the band

Things I still have to add are:

• The completed music video 
• The track 'Bring Me To Life' so fans can listen to the bands music

http://www.myspace.com/forgetting-last-friday VISIT NOW 

The Power and Reign of MySpace

From Wikipedia

Myspace,^[6] stylized My_____^[7] and previously MySpace, is a social networking website. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California^[8] where it shares an office building with its immediate owner, News Corp. Digital Media, owned by News Corporation.

Myspace became the most popular social networking site in the United States in June 2006, a position that it held throughout 2007 until 2008.^[9] In April 2008, according to comScore, Myspace was overtaken internationally by its main competitor,Facebook based on monthly unique visitors.^[10][11] Myspace employs 1,000 employees, after laying off 30% of its workforce in June 2009;^[3] the company does not disclose revenues or profits separately from News Corporation. Quantcast estimates MySpace's monthly U.S. unique visitors at 43.2 million.^[12]

Music

Wikinews has related news:MySpace to take on iTunes

Myspace profiles for musicians in the website's Myspace Music section differ from normal profiles in allowing artists to upload their entire discographies consisting of MP3 songs. The uploader must have rights to use the songs (e.g. their own work, permission granted, etc.). Unsigned musicians can use Myspace to post and sell music using SNOCAP, which has proven popular among Myspace users.

Shortly after Myspace was sold to Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Fox News and 20th Century Fox, in 2005, they launched their own record label, MySpace Records, in an effort to discover unknown talent currently on Myspace Music.^[20] Regardless of the artist already being famous or still looking for a break into the industry, artists can upload their songs onto Myspace and have access to millions of people on a daily basis. Some well known singers such as Lily Allen and Sean Kingston gained fame through Myspace. The availability of music on this website continues to develop, largely driven by young talent. Over eight million artists have been discovered by Myspace and many more continue to be discovered daily.^[57] In late 2007, the site launched The Myspace Transmissions, a series of live-in-studio recordings by well-known artists.

Myspace, in 2008, redesigned its music page adding new features for all musicians. These new features include the users' ability to create playlists, resembling the functions of Last.fm and other social music websites, along with the popular ProjectPlaylist that is popular on profiles. The new music features also archive songs from many popular artists, resembling the services of iTunes and Napster. In March 2010, listening to the full song in the search results has been disable and had been replaced by 30 second samples. Myspace music also suggests songs based on the songs you are currently listening to or the songs you had added to the playlist, making it as a music discovery tool. Myspace Music also added an improved playlist feature and artist profile, along with better music suggestion features, making it one of the highest rated and advanced music discovery sites on the Web. The site features charts similar to Billboard charts and it keeps track of the most popular music liked by users of all genres. It also enables user to view popular music in other countries of the world, mostly in Europe and major Asian countries such as China and Russia.

As I come to design a webpage for my band 'Forgetting Last Friday' I have now decided to create a MySpace as it  is now widely used to promote the band.

How do artists market themselves via their webpages?

To receive an understanding of how artists use the internet to market themselves via their own websites, I visited the webpages of the following:

• Evanescence- The artist of the song we have chosen to perform
• Jessie J- As she is a new rising artist of 2011

Evanescence

When first visiting this website you are welcomed with a welcome page.

It is rather common now to be welcomed with a page like this when visiting websites, on some of these pages give you the option to choose what country you live in this allows you to access information which is applicable for where you live. Also choosing the country allows you to access the website with a language you understand.

The codes of the gothic genre are also apparent on their website page, this is now a continuous convention of the band and how they manipulate their fonts so fans can associate with the band. On this webpage the bands music is on a loop and is continuously playing but allows the fans to manipulate what they listen to. Also there are recent and up to date posts of the bands whereabouts as this is how they communicate with their fans.

Jessie J

Alike Evanescences webpage you are welcomed by a welcoming page.

Here it is apparent that this welcoming page is for the UK and US fans to choose the correct website which will provide them with the right information for their country. Also it shows how wide the artists fan base and that this is considered gives the artist recognition.

Jessie J's webpage is based purely on her star image, this is shown through the colour scheme used (black, white and gold) which are all code for wealth and bling which the artist is associated with. Also her originality it reflected through the artwork on her lips and striking images.

Editing- Update #2

In class we are now focussed on editing our music video using the porgramme Final Cut Express. The footage we are editting is all the filming of the narrative as so far we have not filmed the performance part of our video, but have planned to do so in the next week, in the drama studio as the background and setting will all be black; this clearly distunguishes between the narrative and performance. However we have started to put the narrative together using short, quick edits on the beat and having no continuious footage like a film and other music videos adapt. These quick edits show the frustration, confussion and explosive build up to the scene in which she decides to commit suicide.
In the editing aspect it has been quite hard to decided the ratio of narrative and performance and the order of both due to the lack of film on the performance front. Although this is a problem at the moment, refering to our plans and rough order drafts we have been able to see how the narrative will work.
So far we have been able to manipulate the footage in speed, brightness and contrast, reversing the footage and cutting it into short quick edits.

Research/Marketing a Band/ The use of the Internet/Postmodernism- The Midnight Beast

The Midnight Beast are now a well-established comic British band; the beginning of their carrer reflects an aspect of Postmodernism as their parody (mimicing the original) of Ke$ha's 'Tik Tok' allowed them to recieve their teenage fans, in their thousands, today all thanks to the famous video sharing website YouTube.

The band consists of Stefan Abingdon, also known as St£fan continuining the parody mimicing the way that Ke$ha decided to spell her name, Ashley Horne and Dru Wakely. This trio are now an internet phenomenom in the teenage culture who specifically enjoy the Indie/Rock genre. The band are successful due to the clever marketting techniques aiming to the younger generation who are 'hot' with websites such as YouTube,and social networking sites such as Myspace, Facebook and Twitter, and their own official website. It was in the bands knowledge of how successful they would be choosing this route into the industry; as it is an easy way to produce and market your own music without any legal hassel, the target audience who are following them on these sites will feel obliged to download their songs due to the parasocial relationships, choosing chart songs such as 'Tik Tok' and 'Down' a connection is instantly made, and as the target audience download their music as the indutry and way to purchase music has changed in this century.

Being a fan of this band I can express my own reasons of why I believe that they are so successful:

• The band are not serious- alot of bands in the charts topics of their songs can be quite sad picking up on on-going topics in the news or everyday life. It is here where The Midnight Beast's quirky comic music feeds on their success through the use of parody or sheer mad lyrics related to the topics puts a smile of the teenagers faces, and creating songs with such a catchy tune meaning that they will never leave our heads.
• The Midnight Beast mock the things that drive other artists to their success- either being their sense of no care in their image or that they never actually sing properly and that alot of the lyrics are spoken or that they use quite alot of effects in their music which is an on-going debate in the industry.
• The songs make me laugh- whenever I am down I can put on one of their songs and they will always put a smile on my face due to their hilarity.

Wikipedia Research into The Midnight Beast's singles

• Tik Tok (Parody)' was released on 13 December 2009.^[18], added to iTunes on 15 January 2010^[19]. ‘Tik Tok (Parody)’ is a parody of TiK ToK originally by American pop artist Ke$ha. The song portrays a live-fast die-young look on life of binge drinking and eating dessert before dinner, among others. The parody debuted on the Australian Singles Chart at sixteen, later peaking at four. It also reached number one on the Australian iTunes countdown.^[20] It has since peaked at #16 on the UK Indie Chart.^{[citation needed]}
• ‘Xxxmas Buddies (How To Get A Xmas...)’ (pronounced 'Triple Xmas Buddies...') was released on 22 December 2009^[21]. ‘Xxxmas Buddies (How To Get A Xmas...)’ is an 'adult' parody of All I Want For Christmas Is You originally by American singer Mariah Carey featuring Walter Afanasieff.
• ‘Down - Jay Sean Parody’ was released on 3 January 2010. ‘Down Jay Sean Parody’ is a parody of the song Down originally by Jay Sean featuring Lil Wayne. In this parody The Midnight Beast sing about trousers falling down in the worst possible situations.
• ‘Walk With Us Skit’ was released on 27 January 2010. ‘Walk With Us Skit’ is an original skit. In this very comedic skit, Stefan and Ash decide to lyrically “go wherever their legs take them” in a children's-entertainment type start. The childish feel is carried as Stef and Ash sing down the streets of London Town. This is until along the way they find Dru, who has returned from a night “holding up the chemists” to “score drugs” where he also “drunk 20 whole bottles of Calpol' and goes into further detail about what he has been doing to which Ash replies, 'Dru, You've changed'. The song then goes back to the chorus, ending with Dru vomiting Calpol.
• ‘Ninjas’ was released on 9 February 2010^[22]. ‘Ninjas’ is an original song. In this song the boys start by saying none of them have any money, but nevertheless Stefan bets that he can get more alcohol than Dru or Ash that night. They then proceed to sing about being “ninjas of the dancefloor” i.e. stealing peoples drinks without them knowing. At the end of the song, Dru seemes to have won the bet as he is seen with much more empty bottles of alcohol next to where he is passed out, whilst Stefan and Ash laugh as the song ends.
• ‘Dubstep On My Mouth Skit’ was released on 5 March 2010^[23]. ‘Dubstep On My Mouth Skit’ is an original skit. In this skit “a strange bass line demon is roaming the streets of london... Possessing young boys when they least expect it...”. In reality, this means that Dru, Ash and Stefan randomly make “offensive noises”. After a while Ash sees Dru and Stefan making the “offensive noises” and proceeds to call a doctor. Then Ash also joins in. At the end of the skit Stefan simply says, “That was.. weird.”
• 'Fashion Innit Skit' was released (not on The Midnight Beast's YouTube channel) on 18 March 2010 ^[24]. 'Fashion Innit Skit' is another original skit. As said, this is not hosted on The Midnight Beast's Youtube Channel as it was a gonzo report for MTV Rocks (though the video can be found on YouTube). It is a skit about what is apparently 'fashion', with all of the 'fashion' becoming more and more ludicrous as the skit goes on. Fashion Innit was released on iTunes as part of the Booty Call EP.
• 'Lez Be Friends' was released on 25 March 2010^[25]. 'Lez Be Friends' is an original song. In this song Stefan sings that if a girl will not go out with him, then clearly she must be a lesbian - features Nicholas Hoult. Ash and Dru appear as "two boys looking for two girls."
• 'House Party' was released on 4 May 2010,^[26] to coincide with the election in 2010. 'House Party' is an original song by The Midnight Beast for BBC Comedy. This video again is not actually hosted on The Midnight Beasts' Youtube Channel, but on BBCComedy's as it was made to coincide with the election to try to get the youth of Britain interested in political issues. It talks about an alternative party that Stefan, Ash and Dru have made, known as the 'TMB Party'.
• 'Friends For Never' was released on 27 May 2010^[27]. 'Friends For Never' is an original song. It is about Ash and Stefan being best of friends, but who keep falling out and then making up again. They fall out in the song over Stefan's "Sunday roasts" but appear to make up again at the end of the song. Dru randomly comes in at the start of the 3rd verse and raps to them. He then goes away again. Friends for never also includes a reference to their sponsor 'Juicebox Clothing' at 3:28, on the stuffed animal's leg that Ashley gives to Stefan, there is a juicebox clothing band around its leg.
• 'Camden Crawling' was released on 30 May 2010^[28]. 'Camden Crawling' is an original song. This is another report for MTV Rocks so is not available on The Midnight Beast's Youtube channel but once again this video can be found if searched for. In the song, Dru tells Ash and Stefan about the Camden Crawl Festival. However, he misinforms them, telling them to take the 'crawl' a bit too literally.
• 'Daddy' was released on 24 June 2010^[29]. 'Daddy' is an original song. This is a song which expands on Dru's past where he says that his dad ran off with their Spanish cleaner on Christmas Eve when he was three. This was first mentioned 2:25 into their very first song 'Tik Tok (Parody)' and has also been brought up in many of The Midnight Beast's other songs including ‘Xxxmas Buddies (How To Get A Xmas...)’, ‘Down Jay Sean Parody’, and 'Friends For Never'.
• 'Booty Call' was first played on 1 August 2010 on BBC Radio 1 on the 5:19 Show with Tom Deacon. This single was released on 12 August 2010^[30]. 'Booty Call' is an original song. In it Dru and Ash have a sleepover at Stefan's and sing all about girls, nails, hair and Cluedo. The song also features a reference to another of their songs 'Lez be Friends' with "We are three boys, Not looking for three girls". It also references 'Daddy', as a Twix chocolate bar is seen in the opening credits.
• 'All Time Low (Parody)' was also first played on 1 August 2010 on BBC Radio 1 on the 5:19 Show, the final song by The Midnight Beast to be played on that show. This song was a parody of All Time Low by The Wanted and featured Tom Deacon. The song is about The Midnight Beast trying to get on the radio; the beginning of the song is a phone call from Dru to Tom Deacon asking if he could play something by The Midnight Beast. The band then start to play the song down the phone, talking about how they find it hard to reach the charts and wonder how they can get on the radio. It is also the only song by The Midnight Beast to have no music video counterpart.
• 'Just Another Boyband' was first played live at a concert and was also uploaded onto The Midnight Beast's Myspace. It was released on iTunes on the 20th of November 2010 and the official music video to accompany the song was released on YouTube the same day. The video involves Stefan, Dru and Ash mocking boybands, by imitating classically stereotypical boyband behaviour, e.g. Ashley pretending to be gay, and the group being unable to get along, leading to a break-up.^[31]
• 'Walk With Us Xmas Special' is a Christmas-themed parody of an earlier skit by the group. The events that occur throughout the skit are similar to those in the original "Walk With Us."
• 'Use Ya Head (Sex Education Skit)' Use Ya Head is a sex education themed song released January 19, 2011. It is a spoof of low-budget educational videos from the 1980s, and is in support of the safe sex organisation Have a Larc.

The Midnight Beast's Webpage - http://www.themidnightbeast.co.uk/

Editing- The Beginning/Update #1

After a couple of days of converting the film files so the are compatible for Final Express to begin editing. Today as a group we made a start of the editing side of the coursework. All of the files were organised so that it is easier to find certain shots that we intend to use in the timeline. From here we 'messed around' with some of the shots to get some ideas of where abouts we wanted to start the narrative and the performance (which is yet to be filmed). When editing we found out how to slow down and speed up the shots, and how to adjust the brightness and contrast. After messing around with the programme and editing we successfully created about 15 seconds of work.

Classroom Scene- Filming Tuesday 25th January

Due to technical difficulties on You-Tubes behalf, the shots that we filmed in school are only just being posted on the blog even though they were filmed on Tuesday 25th January. This blog can also be found on the group blog www.eljafproductions.blogspot.com
The classroom scene is part and adds to the narrative of the video as it adds to the negativity of the characters life. These shots consisted of:

• Over the shoulder shot
• Shot from the front/Low Angle
• Shot from the side
• Panning of the setting
• From the teachers point of view

Over the shoulder shot

This shot allows the audience to see what the character is writing, which highlights their frustration as they write the lyrics/title of the song down in anger. We purposely chose to write in red ink as this codes the anger the individual is feeling, and it is a conventional colour of the music genre rock.
Over the shoulder shots are frequently used in music videos and in films as they give the audience the idea of being involved and watching the action occurring.


Shot from the Front/Low angle 







Low angle shots are used frequently in music videos, this reminds the audience that they are watching a show/performance. Also by using this low angle shot allows the audience to see the characters facial expressions.
When filming, shown in the first and second video, we had some mistakes. Firstly Elliot was so eager to be in the film scene that he made a suprise appearance in two of them. Also in the second video Faye wanted to show off her amazing throwing skills and knocked Jamie (the camera man) out with the ball of paper.


Shot from the side



We like the idea of this shot, as it reflects that no one is surrounding her emphasising that she is alone. Also in this shot it clearly shows the action and emotions of the character.


Shot from the front/High Angle



This shot is slightly high angle, this gives the sense that someone is watching her every move and judging her.


Teachers Shot



By filming from this angle is reflects that she is in a classroom and also from this perspective puts the audience in a point of view, which can create empathy as we watch this character.