Aperture Test Footage

Equipment Test

This week I have been testing the equipment so i know exactly what i can use and how it works. The video bellow shows the footage of me testing the crane and the dolly. This is useful also because it has given me some time filming on the cameras, so when i come to film my real footage i will be able to use the cameras easily.

Audition

This is a quick audition tape of Russell Lewis showing the shuffle dance. I have auditioned him because i want to see how good the dance is and if it is what i am looking for to put in my music video. After watching the video i am happy that it should be him dancing in my video.
 

Animatic - Words From The Gang

Once my story board had been complete i then scanned the images onto the apple mac,  and used imovie to create this animatic, this will again help me to work out what my project will look like when it is finally done. It has also shown me that i will need lots of film as the music video will be about 4mins long and so lots of shorter clips will be needed. This has again given me more ideas about other clips i could film and put into my music video.

Feedback 
Bellow is the classes feedback from my animatic:

Needs quicker transitions between shots and more variety of shots.

1/10/2012 9:04 AMView Responses

Odd song choice.. dunno if it will work tbh, good luck getting the club shots.It may look cheesy and ovo fake if u can't. Definitely a lot more shots will be needed to fill the time as there is no singing, and therefore no way of filling time with lip syncing.

1/10/2012 9:03 AMView Responses

- faster paced shots need to be used - more movement to match the genre of the song - have more people in the video!! - close up of turntables perhaps!! - changing the depth of field constantly to almost create distortion within the crowds

1/10/2012 9:03 AMView Responses

quicker edits to the beat of the song

1/10/2012 9:03 AMView Responses

The transition between shots could be a lot quicker and the length of the shots could be a lot shorter

1/10/2012 9:03 AMView Responses

more close ups for lip syncing

1/10/2012 9:02 AMView Responses

good idea to match with the genre, good for shuffling.

1/10/2012 9:02 AMView Responses

Drawings could be better ha ha

1/10/2012 9:02 AMView Responses

It's an up tempo track so i think quicker shots is needed

1/10/2012 9:02 AMView Responses

- needs more fast paced shots to fit in time with the music

1/10/2012 9:02 AMView Responses

entertaining, but maybe a better concept of what a human figure looks like. Speed up cuts to match tempo.

1/10/2012 9:02 AMView Responses

Much faster cuts would probably go better with the song.

1/10/2012 9:02 AMView Responses

is good for the genre but its a very fast aggressive song and you need ALOT more shot transitions and different scenes.

Following the feedback i have found out that I need to have faster shot cuts that mach the tempo of the song. I will also use a lot of different shots of the same action and have fast cuts between them. This should go well with my genera because it is "a very fast aggressive song".  

Story Board

Bellow is the story board that i drew. I drew a story board so that when i come to film i know exactly what shots i need to get, so hopefully i can get all my shots on one day. It also gives me an idea of camera angles i might need to get. It also gives the first idea of what my music video will look like when it has been completed. Even though my drawings are terrible it is still useful to do this before filming.

Practice - Poster

I like this poster as i think it looks very professional. I also like the effect that i used for the image with the blur-ing of the background. I also like the font i used. However i think i could have used the space a bit better as there is a lot of blank space. 

Practice - Poster

I am not very happy with this poster as the main image has come out pixelated. I also think i could have added more to this as it is very basic design, i should have maybe stuck to the colour theme of the CD cover so it looks better. I think this looks very amateur. 

Practice - Poster

I think this poster looks professional because of the black background. I like the image i choose for this poster. I am also happy with the font as it is the same colour as the HMV logo.  However i do not like how the didgi pack is on it. I think i could have positioned it better.

Time Management

To make sure i kept to my deadlines i created i plan of everything i would do on each day in ICal on 

the apple macs, this would include important deadline dates and also a target of what works needs to be completed on each day. If i fell behind then i knew exactly what i need to catch up on.

Practice - Digi Pack

For this design i went for a beach look hence the images i have chosen for my digi pack, also the font gives a beach like feel as the colour is sandy on the front and the black lettering on the back works well with the sun setting scene.  

This is not my best practice design i have done but it is all helping me refine my skills on In Design on the apple macs. 

Props/Lighting

I will need to get my hand's on a DJ set for my music video, which i will get of Luke Wright (my DJ for my music video). He has all the equipment i will need such as decks, mixers, and a laptop ect.

I will also need to get some lights that i will hire form a shop and borrow some from school when the date of the shoot arrives. I will want lots of club lights such as strobe and also Lazar lights. I will also hire a smoke and dry ice machine to create the club like atmosphere that i am going to try and create in the abandoned warehouse.

Practice - Digi Pack

With this design i went for the artists logo as the front cover for the CD case this is because it is well known and so will catch the consumers eyes. I like the back cover because it makes it look like inside of a club and so were this music would be played. The two images that are inside the CD cover are again typical of the genre of cartoon of a DJ. Also the "Shut up and dance" will relate to the song as this song is one that you can do the shuffle to (The dance that will be in my music video).

I am very pleased with how my CD is looking in this practice. I like the font used for the title of the CD and think it works very well with this genre of music. I have also Incorporated the DJ's picture which i think looks professional. The only think i am not happy with about this design is the artist name, I think I could have done more with that to make it look better, i think it looks a bit boring as just block capitals. 

Practice - Digi Pack

With this digi pack i went for a more colourful look for the front and used a fading effect on the front. I like the cartoon look of this design. I think it looks very eye catching and typical of the club albums. The bright colours and fonts are meant to look like the lights in the clubs.

With the CD again i went for another very cartoon like design and went with girls because that is typical of the dance music genre. The pink girl and font make this very eye catching. 

Possible Actors

I am thinking about having Luke Wright as my main actor in my video. Because he is an upcoming DJ he knows how to use the DJ decks and so i thought it would look better in my video if i had someone who knows how to them properly and so hopefully you will be able to see in my music video professional looking DJ'ing. Also has he does gig's i am hopping he will be able to get me into some clubs to film when he is doing a set.

My second actor i am hoping will be Russell Lewis, i have chosen him because he can do the shuffle which is the dance that i want to feature in my music video. I will be auditioning him later this week.

Music Video Practice

Here is another music video of a music video I attempted to remake to give me an idea of how to film my final music video. It also helped me to use the programs I would need such as Final Cut Pro. The music Video is Tenacious D - Tribute.

Original Video:-

My Remake:-

Practice - Digi Pack

For my practice Digi Pack I took inspiration from the research, I went for a very basic design with pictures of the DJ on the front and back of the Digi Pack. I also went for a black and white looking front and back as it draws the attention of costumers. I chose a font that I thought would be associated with a DJ. On the back i put on the studio logo. On the inside there is a picture of inside the club, which i put in to try and give the impression that when you start listening to the music on the CD the listener will be taken to a club in there head.  

I like this design for my disk because it is a vinyl that DJ's use to mix with and so goes well with the genre my music video will be. I also typed out the copyright wording that appears on most CD's, this is because i am trying to make my design look as convensional as possible. 

Research Inspiration

I have taken inspiration from all the music videos I have watched and descided on doing a Dance track. I will include the conventional themes you would expect to see in a dance music video such as shots of the DJ and a dancer. I will also rent some lights to create the club light scene. I will also look for locations such as abandoned warehouse. Also I am thinking of filming in a club as I have a friend who can get me backstage into the Live Lounge in jersey.

For my album artwork I am planning a simple design with a picture of the DJ on the decks.

Pumped Up Kicks

Possible Music Choice

This is the song i am thinking about using is DJ Coone - Words From The Gang. I have chose this dance track because it is a song i feel i could do very well as i am into dance music. Also my research consisted of lots of dance tracks and so i feel i have a good understanding of the conventions seen in music videos of this genre.

Lyrics:-

DJ'ing is an easy way to get laid

Everybody wants to be a DJ

I remember the day I first heard electronic music
I knew back then this illegal computer sound was gonna be my call
My heart got hooked on 4 by 4 beats
When house took his journey with Jack Chicago and Acid House

Now my heart is hooked forever
It's in my soul, in my veins
On my mind 24/7
I don't care if it's french-tek, hardstyle, hardcore, old school or jump

I don't understand people who are satisfied with ordinary pop music
They just listen to whatever radio stations decide they should like
Followed by an overkill of ring tone commercials meant for kids
And my god, they like it!

Some people even think that house clubs are for weirdos only!
Maybe they're right, maybe we are weird
Maybe this music is weird and maybe the clubs are overrated
But we're in this together, we're in this for the love of beats,
for the love of loops

If you're in the scene, being a DJ seems like a natural path to follow
Ha, and back in the days DJ's were weird people who liked music in a weird way
Back then you would have to be a nerd to become a DJ

Nowadays everybody wants to be a DJ
Nowadays everybody wants to be that nerd

It sickens me, I hate those smart asses who think that DJ is an easy way to get laid
Well... get a life!
If you're not in it for the love of the music, would you please fuck off!

My Survey And Results - Target Audience

This survey gives me ideas about who watches music videos and also what they like to see in them, for example i have found out that 16 - 20 year old are more likely to watch music videos. However as this was posted on my facebook wall only people with access to my wall can take part and so this needs to be taken into account. What is also interesting is the fact that most people want to see both a story line and shots of the artist. 

This last question i asked so that i could watch watch other videos that i may not have thought about and so getting a broader view of what other people want to see in music videos, by watching their favourite video. I found this very useful and has made me start thinking more about what other people want to see in music videos because it may differ to my opinions. 

Here you can see the link that i posted to my Facebook wall to get people to take my survey.


I Also Interviewed Russel Lewis, who is aged 18 which is what my project will be aimed at.

I used all this research to work out that my target audience is males aged between 18 - 25 who enjoy the clubbing atmosphere and into hard style dance music. They would probably listen to artists such as Nero, Example, DJ Tiesto. Or somebody who likes the idea of the shuffle dance in music videos.

Digipak Research - Deadmau5 - For Lack Of A Better Name

Digipak - For Lack Of A Better Name

Front Cover = I like this album artwork because it is very simple. I like the background effect that they have used. I also think what they have done with the Deadmau5 logo is very efective as it is made to look like blod splats. The logo is well known and so is very effective because people will imidatly reconise it.
Back Cover = The back is also very effective and very simmilar to the front however it includes the track list which is what we would expect to find on any album, we can also see teh barcode and recording studio logo which is generic of any album.  

Digipak Research - Nero - Welcome Reality

Nero - Welcome Reality

Front Cover = I like the design on the front cover as it is made to look like a planet and in the back ground is a city with two people looking out to it, this suggests the name of the album "Welcome Reality". I also like the fact that the "Nero" font has been used as this is the recognised font and so a consumer will be able to easily pick this out of a shelf due to the publicity of the font. This album is made to look very "out of this world" and so has a space like look to it.

Back Cover = Again it has been made to look very space like. It shows the general generics we would expect to find on the back cover of a album such as teh track list and also the recording studio logo. I like the simplicity of this back cover.

Disk = This is a very simplistic design for the disk as it is just black withe the Nero font and then the name of the album "Welcome Reality". It also has the wriging that is written round the outside of the disk that warns of copping the CD.

Digipak Research - Elements Of Life

Tiesto - Elements Of Life

Front Cover

Back Cover

Front Cover = I like this album cover because it is very simplistic as it is simply just a picture of Tiesto that has been colour corrected, the design in the background is also made to look very stylish. It also features Tiesto's logo in the background (the bird figure) which is well known over the world. I also like the fonts that were used for the title of the album because it makes it look very stylish. 

Back Cover = All the names of the song's that are on the album are listed on the back of this digipak, this is generic of all CD cases no matter what genre. Also the same font of text is used to that that's on the front cover. The background is again Tiesto's logo which is all used to make this album stand out so more people recognise that symbol and think of tiesto. Finaly we can see the logo for the studio that produced the album, this is commonly seen on the back of album's, in this case the studio is 'Ultra'.

Music Poster Research - Armin Van Buuren

Music Poster - Armin Van Buuren

I like this poster because it is very simple and puts across a lot of information that is required about Armin's set. I also like the picture of Armin that they have used as it makes him look almost god-like and goes with the quote in red which states "The world NO.1 DJ for three consecutive years". Again we see that the album artwork is shown in the bottom right hand corner. What is also interesting about this music poster is that it advertises some cubs such as Armanda, it would seem that in posters for DJ's we see a lot of advertisement for clubs that the DJ may play in. Also they tent to make the artist look powerful and stylish as seen on this poster and also on tiesto's poster. 

Music Poster Reasearch - Kerron Ennis

Music Poster - Kerron Ennis

Again another example of how the album artwork tends to be on the poster and usually in the corner. I like this poster as it has been done to look very. It also gives all the information someone would need who wanted to buy the album and also a logo of the studio that produced the album. I like how simple this design is compared to the more complex designs of the dance posters such as tiesto, this may because the music is more layed back compared to the fast paced beats of dance music and so this may be mirrored in the posters. 

Music Poster Reasearch - Jay-z

Music Poster Reasearch - Jay-z

Here again we see another example that shows the album artwork in the corner of this music poster. Also similar to the other posters rule of thirds has been used as the picture of the artist is only on 1 3rd of the page. What is also interesting is how the artists picture is in black and white and very dark this may be because the genre is rap. The red stripes in the middle referee to the album this poster is promoting as it is one of the images that appears on the album art work. Promotional websites are also seen on the bottom of the poster. 





Music Poster Reasearch - Tiesto

Music Poster - Tiesto

I like this poster mainly because of all the different fonts used. They help catch the viewers eye and highlight the important parts of this poster such as the dates of Tiesto's tour. This poster is also very clever as although it is advertising tiesto's tour the imagery in the back ground is the album artworks for his 'Elements Of Life' album and so lots of people will recognise the poster and so should make it memorable. I also like the idea of having an artist logo in the background. However i don't like how much writing there is on this poster as it makes it look like to much is going on in the poster.

Music Poster Reasearch - Gravity

Music Poster - Gravity

I Like this music poster as it is very simple and effective as it is simply a cloes up of the artists face and some simple photography effects have been used to make the face very white and the rest of the poster darker. We also can see the HMV logo in the known font and the dog picture that symbolies HMV. What i also like about this poster is it gives the names of the songs that are on the Album that this poster is premotting. We also see the album artwork apear on the poster which is typical of a HMV music poster.





Digipak Research - The Sound Of Dubstep 3

The Sound Of Dubstep 3

Front Cover = I like this cover because it is very eye catching as there is just a white background and the lettering is very bold. What is also interesting about this cover is i has the ministry of sound (MOS) logo which is typical of all MOS albums. As this album is a compilation album there can be no one artist picture and so instead there is this spike effect which is the main artwork. What is also different about this album compared to many others is the fact that on the bottom we can see the artist's of some of the featured. 
Back Cover = Again the green writing on a white background makes this eye catching. It has the songs divided into two lists as two CD's come with this album. The font is simmilar to that used on the font cover. There is also the barcode which is always on the back of CD's. 

Music Video Research - Devlin - Let it Go (Ft Labrinth)

Devlin - Let It Go (Ft Labrinth)

I think this is a very good effect at the start of the music video. The  camera is made to look through the mirror and travel into the world behind it, this givesthe impression that the character in the narative is looking at himself and thinking about how his relationship is nd having flash backs of everything thats happend. This is a good way of bringing the viewer into the narative.

I like the way they have combined the song with the narative in this music video, by having the artist (Devlin) rap while the action is going on in the background, almost as if he was saying this song to his partner in the music video. This could be a good idea if i chose to run a narative in my music video.

Here we see the shots we would expect to see in a music video of the artist and the camera pans around, we go to these clips during the chorus which is good to mix up the narrative a little.

I like the use of shaky camera footage in this music video as it gives the impression of being mad and that there is arguments and possibly violence. It adds more emotion to the video as it also heps with the themes of the song. Also the quick edits give the impression of action and fighting and works very well with a song like this.













Music Video Research - Lil Wayne - How To Love

Lil Wayne - How To Love

At the start of the music video there is an interlude which sets the scene for the narrative of the song. This is a good idea for this music video as it very much focuses around the story and so this is needed to help the viewer understand what is going on.

I love the use of focus pull in this shot to highlight the male in the background looking at the female caracter, which is part of the narrative of the song and also goes along with the lyrics of the song.

Here we see the typical shot of the artist (Lil Wayne), we expect to see shots of the artist sinnging in music video and the location choice used in this shot is what is expected from the type of music that thos artist produces as it has a grimy feel bein shot in this underground location. However this is one of his more emotional songs and so the acoustic guitar gives a nice contrast to what we would usally expect to see in one of his music videos.

I like the use of colour correction in this shot which helps make this clip more like the inside of a strip club as the colours try to give the impression of lighting in the club. Colour correction is used very well in this music video as it helps to set the mood for the clip throught the video. It also makes the musi video look very proffecinal.

I love this camera angle and i think it gives a very powerfull ending to the music video as Lil Wayne walks of down the underpast through steam.

Music Video Research - Deadmau5 - Sophie Needs A Ladder

Deadmau5 - Sophie Needs A Ladder



I love the opening shot to this music video because i like the camera movement in it, as the camera pans up from the audience in the club to the DJ (Deadmau5) in the DJ booth. The whole of this music video is clips taken from a set deadmau5 did in Brixton. This is very typical of dance music video's as many don't have what is thought to be a music video, instead they show shots from live performances like this to create a video to go with the song. Not all dance music tracks do this, but a few do such as Deadmau5 and Tiesto.



I like the effect created here of having a clip of the lights playing over a clip of the DJ. This gives this shot a very club like feel, almost as if you were actually there as you are seeing the DJ but also lights are flashing at you just like they would be in a club. This helps set the scene to the viewer even if they are sat at home simply watching this in the comfort of their own living rooms.





This is an amazing shot because of the camera angle, it lets the viewer see the DJ at work mixing on the decks, it is typical of dance music videos to see clips of the DJ mixing. Rule of thirds has also been used in this shot which helps keep the viewers attention, but also in the background the lights are in time with the music and so all this adds to this shot.



I like the out of focus effect of this shot and think it works well for the dance music video, this could be symbolic of what people would be actually seeing if they saw Deadmau5 live, because of all the lights that may be dazzling their eyes but also many people drink at these events and so this shot could be giving the impression of being drunk. If i were to do a similar effect like this i would also do a focus pull to bring the DJ into focus, which i think could look quiet good.



This is another very typical shot we would expect to see in a dance music video, the shot off all the people dancing in the club and messing around. The fact that this was filmed at a real performance adds that touch of realism to this music video as none of the shots have been acted.