Storyboard

Time Plan

Performers & Casting

We have three performers to choose from for the lead part, we are at the stage of potential casting. All three are reliable and available but we have to choose who is most desirable for the main role.

The performer who gets chosen for the lead role will have to wear war paint and wield a fire torch (as showcased on the digipak). They will have to be expressive and move well (in terms of running and doing various movement with the fire torch). 

The location will be at an old farm we have permission to use, it contains a lake, forests and lots of barren land. 

Satellite image of the location: 

 

We are fortunate that we have the props, location and the lead role performers. Now we can focus on storyboarding, layouts, drafting and scripting. Therefore to establish what shots and types of movements we want to portray and showcase.

Audience Research

SON OF A LUMBERJACK

USER PROFILE:

KEY INSIGHTS:

Overall users:                       3265
Average weekly users:          262
Average monthly users:        1048

Male                                   47%
Female:                              53%

Under 16:                           11%
Ages 16 to 24:                    64%
Over 24:                             23%

Users regularly send comments and feedback to the band, through different media and keep up to date with their shows shows, music, videos and projects.

"Ace music and a unique stance on  their genre"
"Host a great night and showcase some awesome music"
"Son of a Lumberjack can song write and record amazingly!"

MUSIC


Followers stay active over listening to the band music through sites like sound cloud and buy tickets to watch them play shows at renowned venues like HMV Institute, O2 Academy and Kasbah.

Fans come to watch:
- Front man, Josh Wood showcase a husky and rugged voice and lead guitar talent.
- Guy Challenger wields a bass to present insane riffs.
- Tom Yeoman is the powerhouse behind the band, drilling out beat after beat.

For such a young band they produce such a full sound, live and in the studio far beyond there years. In the last two years, there has been a lot of success and prosperity delivered to the 'Son of a Lumberjack' door step. Including reviews from popular magazines, promotions around Birmingham and headlining amazing venues.

Focus group on similar artists in Son of a Lumberjack's genre


We showed a target group some music videos by Foo fighters & Kings of Leon







We asked them:

 What do you like about the two music videos by FF & KOL? The main point was...

"The music and audio is great behind visual content, a bit of a 'samey' video."

 What do you dislike about the two music videos by FF & KOL? The main point was...

"To much performance, not enough of a story behind it"

ADVERT

Print Production

Step by step creation of the Digipack

1. Backgrounds

 2. Fonts 

3. Copyright symbols, barcode & record label 

4. Small print or general information 

5. Manipulated photography, for back cover & disk art.

6. Photos for front & Inside cover, showcasing props 

7. Final print before showing target audience 

Print Production - Planning

Date	Objective for lesson	Objective outside of lesson
21/11/11	Backgrounds & Fonts	Backgrounds & Fonts
22/11/11	Graphics	Barcode & Copyright Symbols
23/11/11	Write in the smaller print	Taking Photos for back cover & disk art.
24/11/11	Manipulate photography	Manipulate photography
25/11/11	Contact Model to arrange the shoot.	-       Organise transport -       Organise location. (Tues 29th)
28/11/11	Get hold of props (Fire Torches, Clothes & War Paint).	Taking photos for front & Inside cover.
29/11/11	Taking photos for front & Inside cover.	Manipulate photography & finish first draft
30/11/11	-       Get audience feedback from your work. -       Record the comments from audience feedback and respond to them.	Amend the print work as a response to feedback.
01/12/11	Finishing touches	Printing showcase piece
02/12/11 (Deadline at 4.10pm)

Redundancy & Entropy

Redundancy = a traditional image, video or caption which you have seen before, that you know is common knowledge of its existence in the type of culture or society you live in. 

Entropy = the opposite to redundancy. It is an image which goes against tradition and resists the 'norm' something people do not expect and is usual and abstract to the viewer. Either hard to understand or something similar to the traditional image with an object that has no relation (in this case the farm landscapes are similar, however, the random door is making this image change completely) 

The video we are creating will be a bit of both (Redundancy and Entropy), the environment around will be typical country and forest  landscapes (maybe covered in snow), this will be the Redundant element. But the war-painted warrior running through the terrain with a torch is unusual and different with will be the Entropic component. 

Digipak Research

Introduction:

Digipaks come in various formats and are generally to showcase the artists artwork and express how each  individual  artist wants to stand out and portray themselves. How artists look (their appearances) or their background are what are used in digipaks to determine the artwork. Digipaks are also used describe what the product includes (i.e track lists, artwork and music videos).

Digipaks are important because they help maintain an artists reputation and how they appear in a visual form. If an artists artwork and music video are poorly made and presented, this could have impact on the popularity of the artist in extreme cases.

FRIENDLY FIRES:

The front cover ties in with the back cover because there is almost a symmetrical element to this digipak. The back cover is technically the inverted version of the front cover with its black and white shapes switching roles, to make it have a bit more diversity and variation.

It is a simple design yet very effective, I prefer a minimal approach and then have a focal point which sums up the album. In this case it was their breakthrough album, and I think this directly correlates with the front cover and the smashing mirror. 

There are obvious elements included such as the track list, bar code, record label and date of release (as labelled in the back cover).

FOO FIGHTERS:

The front cover is meant to be very patriotic, as an America band they are using a lot of objects that come from American history, like the buffalo and eagle. It does really follow a theme as a digipak because the front cover and disk do not really relate to the back cover, it is randomised, it looks like a typical attic and has no relevance to the patriotic American theme. 

This album is a Foo Fighters 'Greatest Hits' album and Foo Fighters have recorded under many labels, therefore, the block of white writing at the bottom of the page is a list of lots of records labels and companies that have collaborated together to create this album. There are also obvious elements to the back and front cover like the bar code and copyright logo.

Kings of Leon:

This Kings of Leon album artwork works together well, it is very much the same theme throughout, not at all random or disjunctive in relation. The album is based on their roots and their  past as they were growing up together, they lived in Southern America before they made it big in the UK. The album cover is quite self descriptive if you know their history, the sunburst effect is a picture of some of the lead guitarists sunburst guitars which are popular around the sountern area, it's also the home of 'Gibson' guitars. Within Southern America you get stunning sunsets which is what the back cover portrays. A year book effect has been added through photoshop to bring relation to the Sunburst and Sunset.

This album has a few more components then the others reviewed  on the back,  such as advertisement, distributor and websites.  This gives a small amount of exposure to each item displayed on their album. 

Presentation

Here is our pitch presentation. It includes a mood-board, mind-maps, test shots, posters, theorists, health & safety risk assessment and target audience.

Ken Robinson

These are some quotes from Ken Robinson about creativity:


“If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original.”


“The fact is that given the challenges we face, education doesn't need to be reformed -- it needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is not to standardize education, but to personalize it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions.” 


“Creativity is as important as literacy”  

Music Video Research

The Naked And Famous - Young Blood

1.) How do the visuals respond to the music?

 How are the verses, choruses and bridges punctuated?

Within the cinematography the shots appear to be faster in the quick tempo parts of the song. For example in the chorus there is is a part where the music slows down and you hear an echo of the lead singers voice and the visual goes into a slow motion shot. 


There is a part in the song (bridge) which goes very 'reverby' and atmospheric and a sort of tie dye effect (shown below) shows up within the visual. That's a good link between how the audio determines the visuals and how it's expressed.

The whole video is punctuation with random spurts of fast visual to compliment the fast paced audio. Also slow visual and slow motion audio (like in the example above). 

How do the visuals emerge from a process of synaesthesia? Ie. How have the sounds been made visual?

There is not many direct links between the audio and visual as the video is very disjunctive and the shots don't match the lyrics. However, the one thing i did draw from this particular video is that it's a very 'feel good' song, and the shots are very much framed around people having a 'good time'.  

2.) To what extent does it follow a narrative? 

This video does not follow a specific story line with the audio, the song is framed around lover and there are a few couples in a few disjunctive shots. The lyrics do not determine the visual, therefor are hidden behide the visual. But to me I prefer video's that are shot extremely well and are slightly off the point. 

What kind of image is the star presenting?

The stars David Beadle, Thom Powers, Aaron Short, Jesse Wood and Alisa Xayalith are trying to pressent a youthful image and portray the self-explanatory title young blood 

3.) How are mise en scene, editing used in the video – are there any significant features worthy of comment and why are they used?

- The mise en scene is very randomized in this video, there are over 50+ background and hundreds of props. It does not follow a particular theme apart from this year book and strong explosive colored effect. It would be almost near impossible to recreate. 


- In editing they have edited a lot of shots in time with the drummers bass drum. Which is a clever way of finding where to cut the shot to a different shot. It also moves with the emotion of the video (ei. half timed audio has slow motion shots).

4.) In conclusion - this video is very disjunctive and unattached from the audio. A mass of different and randomized shots. 

Music Video Research 2

Blood Red Shoes - Light It Up

1.) How do the visuals respond to the music?

 How are the verses, choruses and bridges punctuated?

In the verses the video shots seem to be lengthened, as the audio is at a slower tempo, in comparison to the chorus, where the shots take place in quick concession and are speeded up due to the increase in tempo. From half time to full time. The bridge exasperates some slow motion shots due to the dip in tempo after the second chorus.

How do the visuals emerge from a process of synaesthesia? Ie. How have the sounds been made visual?

The song is entitled 'Light It Up' and the lyrics do reflect fire related content. Within the visual there are fire lit torches and the instruments they play are set alight towards the end.

2.) To what extent does it follow a narrative? 

There are two lines: 'Got a feeling it's a fever it's a fire, Talking trouble take it down into the wire' at the start of the video/song and there is a lot of aggression expressed through the bands movement and facial expressions within the video. Therefore, lyrics with words such as 'fever' & 'trouble' go hand in hand with the aggression showcased in the music video.

3.) How are mise en scene, editing used in the video – are there any significant features worthy of comment and why are they used?

When the lyrics 'LIGHT IT UP' are shouted in the chorus the shots correlate with the timing, fitting two shots in the spaces between each word.


They have added editing tricks like sun blur on some of the shots, to emphasise the use of fire. 

Finally, the location is a forest covered in snow and the fires contrast well with this background (mise en scene). You can tell they have put this thought into the planning, to ensure the fire becomes a focal point. 

4.) In conclusion - this video is amplified it does not follow a precise narrative, but due to the fire element  correlating with the video, it doesn't make the video completely disjunctive. 

The Drums - Money

The Drums - Money

The video opens with 4 different shots with no audio. A long shot is used to show the lead singer sat on a chair which then cuts to a close up of him. This cuts to a view of the whole band in a wide shot, this is when the music starts. The Video uses parralell action here it seems. It swaps between shots of the band playing in what looks like a bedroom, and shots of the band walking around a city.


The Choruses are punctuated throughout the video, as whenever a chorus is used it switches between them in the studio and them walking around more frequently.



Narrative is used slightly here as the singer sings 'I want to buy you something, but I don't have any money' this is narrative to the video as they are a mid shot shows the lead singer gazing reluctantly at some women in a park, as he is behind the fence.


 This is where a story is opened up throughout.


 The lead singer is walking around gazing at things he wishes he had, however it seems the rest of the band also have no money, thus they cannot do it. This relates to the narrative well and shows how easily it can be done even in a fairly disjunctive style video.


The image of the lead singer is shown in a youthful way, seeing that he has no money like a student, this follows  with the narrative as he walks through singing. This representation is not common along young new bands as they tend to have a 'rock star' style.


The mise en scene in this video is of a busy city, and some parks, it seems like a standard and very simple way of filming, using their own clothes and possibly even their house. This links to the lead singers style and the narrative.


All together the video is quite amplifying as it follows a slight narrative but not ll the time as the choruses dip in and out of this theme.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin has identified a number of key features in music videos:

- Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist.

- A relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.

- A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.

- Genre-related style and iconography present.

- Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females.

- Intertextual references to other media texts may be present.

INTRODUCTION

We are creating a re-make of the music video 'What I go to school for' by Busted, this will involve making it accurately and precisely down to the last second. We will be only doing the first 46 seconds of the music video.

We will have to compile a shot by shot storyboard, find props to film with, create an environment to film in, getting a cast, book equipment and finally construct a risk assessment.

Once we've completed the gathering of information and props, we will commence filming.

RESEARCH & PLANNING

Which of the planning tasks was the most useful?

The storyboard was by far the most useful because of the shot by shot description. This made the practical filming much quicker and more efficient.

What kinds of planning do you wish you had done more of?

We might have been benefited and also completed the task faster if the order of shots were organised a lot better, would of preferred this in the editing process. It was difficult to find and order each clip and mix it along side the audio.

What kind of planning do you expect to be doing during the A2 year?

- Storyboarding
- Prop listing
- Casting the video
- Health & safety risk assessment
- Schedule planning
- Gathering technical equipment

BUSTED VIDEO REMAKE

Props, Equipment & Enviroment

A list containing technical equipment we as a media group will need to film this busted video:

- Digital HD Camera (with SD card)
- Tripod

A list containing props the cast will need to film this busted video:

- Uniforms
- Projector
- White board
- Stationary
- School Books
- Guitars

We have the usage of the whole Worcester Sixth Form College, to create a school environment. We will use the classrooms to film the majority of the short film and the grounds to film the outside part.

Production: Pros & Cons

Pros:

- Everything wasn't to hard to resource because we had the environment to film, we all had school uniforms and other props.

- The task was enjoyable to do and this helps motivate you within the classroom.

- Digital Technology was very easy to use, including: Cameras, Edit Suit, Youtube and Blogger.com

Cons:

- Lip syncing was an issue at times, a good close up on the actor would be far easier to sync.

- We didn't really think about getting guitar props and used a substitute, tennis rackets, instead.

Not many issues cropped up, it all went smoothly, this I think was because it was such a short extract from the music video, if it was the full video on the other hand, that would have been a different story and I can Imagen lots of problems would occur.  And that's what we'll be doing for our next practical  coursework task.

Production: Digital Technology

How did your knowledge of production technology develop?

Cameras were straight forward to use, another class member operated it, while the rest of the class got involve with acting as apart of the cast.

The edit suite was tricky at times, specifically:

- Lip syncing, I've realised that you have to use a close up on the actor who's lip syncing. If the cameras depth of field is further away and the actor is essentially out of view, it's differ cult for the editor and viewer to tell which words they are singing.

- Getting the right length of shot, It was difficult cutting it down to the last second.

The camera and Youtube where straight forward as they are both commercial products/brands and made easy to use.

What did you learn during this production task?

I learnt that labelling the files and clips and putting down a brief description or title, would make Importing the files in the right ordering from the camera to the edit suit a lot easier.

Health and Safety Risk Assessment

Potential Danger	Potential Outcomes	Action to avoid potential risk
Tripping over tripod legs	Minor or serious injury	Be aware of tripod legs and positioning
Tripping in the dark	Minor  or serious injury	Being vigilant and aware of where props (e.g table legs) are in low lit situations.
Projector light	Eyesight could be damaged	All group members should be aware of projector light and not look directly into the light.

Matt will be in charge of making sure everyone is aware of the dangers throughout the filming process. 

Schedule Plan

SHOTS	TIME
-Filming Charlie	THURSDAY
- Close up of the teacher walking - Close up of teachers eyes - Turning off light switch - Writing on the board	THURSDAY
-Filming Matt	FRIDAY
-Filming other band member	FRIDAY
-Filming Animals	FRIDAY