Question 4

Question 1

HOW DOES THE PRODUCTION USE/CHALLENGE/DEVELOP FORMS & CONVENTIONS 

We believe that our Music Video is a cross between narrative and performance. It follows a non-linear narrative storyline where you are drop into a sequence that has no real beginning. The performance side of the Music Video, is incorporated into to the narrative side, where the main character plays the lead singer. We believe that it demonstrates the band genre, because we didn't want to cut away from the storyline to the band performing as it would disrupt the music video. 

Three Kings Down are an alternative Rock band, the song My Air has a slow pace to it, so we believe a simple but effective narrative with a short performance in it would be very effective.

Image 1

We would consider our narrative a non-linear storyline as it is filmed in a way that does not have a beginning, but cuts straight into the hyper-real world of the living music box. And does not reveal a middle or a definitive ending. We have used a black and white filter throughout the music video to draw the attention away from the visual aspect of the footage but to enable the audience to connect to whats actually going on in the narrative. We have made the ballerina in colour to somewhat indicate her individuality and her disconnection from reality. We have placed the ballerina in a generic, stereotypical white tutu, firstly to make the character apparent and also to represent the connotations it brings, for example she appears innocent yet she is a figure of manipulation throughout the film, captivating the male character and enabling him to have her stuck in his head.

Image 2

The second screenshot is of a ballerina which is stuck in our main character mind. We used the Ballerina's dance sequence throughout our music video as cutaways, to clearly show that she playing and haunting his mind. The shot type was just a simple mid-shot and we added another one and just swap her around to create a mirror effect. We believed that this fitted really well with the music because of the slow beats and it created the feeling that she was inside his head. This challenges conventions of a music video, as women are normally used to be looked at in a male gaze, not dominating the main male character. 

Image 3

Screenshot number 3 is a 15 second shot, where the male character is following the camera, lip synching. We believe that incorporating this type of performance as introducing the character without disturbing the storyline. We chose the location, due to the band genre as hipster, we didn't want to follow the normal conventions, we wanted to represent the band as independent and with that we thought a suburban town would be great for that. The ballerina appears confident as she is dancing in confidence whereas you can see the sensitivity of the male character as he comes across perhaps as shy and lost in his own mind. 

Image 4
For this image we used the ballerina however we incorporated her into a polaroid, which she performed her sequence . This plays a part in the idea that she haunts and plays on his mind and imagination. Also the sequence of her dancing fits into the audio really well, due to the slow paced song and fits really effectively. The effect we used for the image above was going to be a green chroma key, however due to the fact that we black and white the whole music video, we just placed the dance sequence over the shot and fitted it to the polaroid and took the opacity down.

Image 5 
Image 5 shows a clear relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as it is actually the male character (lead singer) who is writing the lyrics in his notebook. We believe this was effective in portraying the band genre because it gives across the old way of piecing a song together and thats what the 'hipster' image all about.
This over the shoulder shot, is effective in the way that his on his own and represents and backs up the emotional male character that he plays. For mainstream genre conventions our music video challenges them in this image by he way we represented the male character sitting in a coffee house on his own. However it would conform to the genre of the song 'alternative rock' and the image of the target audience 'hipster'. 

Image 6
Again much like image 4, image 5 challenges mainstream genre conventions and conforms to the songs genre. Also this is reinforcing the theme of the song and how the ballerina haunts the main male character. In this shot, he has just realised that the ballerina in performing the sequence in the window. 

Image 7
This photo represents the sensitivity of the male character as he seems distraught about the coffee spilling on his notebook and spoiling his lyrics and drawings, he has an emotional attachment to the contents of the notebook as it is a visual documentation of the woman who captivates his mind. 

Image 8
In image 8 it shows the male character and ballerina wind up box, from a charity store. This chalenges mainstream conventions, as a charity store wouldn't be shown in a music video, as it would bring down the credibility of the artist.However for the song in ours, it fits really well as for the image of the band: rough,artistic and hipster this is of significance to their culture. 

Image 9
Image number 9, gives a clear indication that the location was in London. Which was effective as it links in with the costume of the male character. This just ties in altogether the image of the band as an unsigned, hipste/ alternative rock. 

Question 2

Website: Three Kings Down

Digipak Complete

Evaluation Question 3 - What have you learned audience feedback? UNFINISHED

Digi-pack Inspiration

For our digipack we have looked at existing digipacks to influence our design. We decided to go with a 'creativity' theme for which we are using different types of mediums within the art theme such as notebooks, polaroids etc.

We got the notebook idea from 'The Streets' album cover for 'Original Pirate Material' - The digipack itself is very natural looking and though our video for 'My Air' is very hyper-real we wanted to express the process that goes on behind the scenes such as songwriting, with lyrics and planning on pieces of paper, the digipack idea kind of represents the process of coming up with the song and lyrics within the album. The cigarette ash and loose change in 'The Streets' version represents the type of genre and type of people the and have.


The scribble also suggest that it was rushed and messy, perhaps the first draft of the digipack which they then decided to keeps.

Editing Construction

  

Final Cut: Music Video Three Kings Down

Things To Improve

We successfully superimposed our dancer onto the bandstand which is a representation of the state of mind that our main character is in. He has her on his mind though he may not be conscious of it. She is placed behind him as if he is almost walking away from his dream though his aim is to find her. It creates a frustration for the audience as he is so close to her but is unaware, plus she is portrayed as in his mind so is not physically behind him in reality but in his mind.

Day shoot 3

Final Cut Pro - Tests

Test Shots

Rachel Butcher

Actor: Rachel Butcher
Costume: White tutu, white tights, pointe shoes
Hair: Ballet bun
Make-up: Natural

(Need to take test shots of Bella)


These test shots of allow us to create and display the characters for our storyboard. They also enable us to have a visual list of the costume, hair and make-up that is to be used the same on every shoot to allow perfect continuity. They also allow us to see exactly what they will look like on camera and gets them used to being filmed and having their photos taken so they are not uncomfortable on the shoots. 

Shoot 2 12/12/13

When on shoot 12/12/13, we had a few problems with permission. We wanted to film opposite London Bridge so that we could use it in the background of our shot to create an establishing shot. We were questioned by local security to which we told them that we were A-Level Media Students filming for our coursewor. They allowed us to film for a time slot of 20 minutes free of charge and were told that if we wanted longer we would need to fill in forms and the sixth form involved. We stuck to our time limit and were able to film our footage with no problems.
The student card was used as proof of identity. They gave us a business card in case of need to contact the control centre.

Shot List

This photograph is the planned shot list: it demonstrates which shots are being filmed where and in which order. This will enable us to structure our second and third shoot as they will be the longest shoots. 

Production Schedule/ Call Sheet

This production schedule allows us to know where we need to be and at what time of the day. It also divides the day up to show us how long we should spend doing each task, though only a rough outline, we can learn from this production schedule as tasks may take longer or shorter time than expected.

The call sheet allows everyone to have a place to look if they need contact numbers of either the members of the group or actors. We also have an email address if we have any unexpected enquires on shoot.

The third shoot is yet to be planned, but will take place in Dartford.

Weather Check

We decided it would be a good idea to check the weather forecast for December 12th as this is the day allocated with the camera. Here can can discover the times to avoid filming such as 8am and 10am due to the fog, which is not an appropriate setting for our music video.
The best times to film seen to be around 11am, we have to ensure that we finish filming by 4pm and we begin to lose daylight.

Preparing Props

Fake polaroids have been made to feature in our music video. The green square allows us to superimpose the sequence of the dancer onto the polaroid. The writing underneath is lyrics taken from the song so incorporates the 'lyrics and visuals' aspect of the Goodwin analysis. These will be used for the shoot 2 (12th Dec)

Green Screen Demo Shoot

We decided to carry out a test shoot to understand the set up and editing process of using a green screen. We found that it took 40 minutes to set up the equipment so we learnt how much time was necessary on the real shoot on Friday 6th December. 
The equipment we need is to accomplish our shot:  

Green Screen
Camera
Extension Lead
Tripod
Lights
Battery (Camera & Lights)
Camera
Green Ring

We learnt how to set up both the green-screen and green-ring in the camera which will enable us to set up the equipment in a less time consuming way to save time on the real shoot. 

Costume List

This is the costume list for our project. It makes a visual plan of the items of clothing required to create the look of the character piece by piece. Making this list ensures that nothing is forgotten on the shoot and everything is organised.