Project log 22nd January 2014

Project log - 16th January 2014

Today in class we presented to the class our music videos - first draft. After I had presented my work, we got feedback on each of the good and bad points which my teacher and peers thought of my work. One of the main critics I received from my teacher was that I had too many shots of Sophia singing at the window, and none of her actually recording the song or looking into the camera. I have taken this on board, and have gone away and made a plan of how I am going to edit this and adapt new parts to my video. I am going to film in the recording studio at many different angles so that I can choose which one I want to use and I can cut my video easily. Another room I will use is the drama room, it is blacked out, so I am going to use the lighting to make it brighter but only on Sophia. In these shots I want to mainly focus on the front view of Sophia, however at some points I will have her singing in there as well. I am going to incorporate this into my music video already created, and just replace some of the window shots. Once I have done this, I am going to re export my video and post it again as a second draft, then get further feedback.

Production log - 18th December 2013

Project log - 12th December 2013

Throughout the past few days, and over the week which I havent updated my blog, I have been editing and filming my footage. I have used my free periods and lesson time efficiently to get as much done as I can. Over the past two days, I have managed to film the majority of my footage and edit it into my music video. The last part which I need to film will take me roughly half an hour. I am planning on going to my old house and using the windows to film singing shots of Sophia. It is a good location to have as it gives the impression she isnt actually by a window, but at an open area quite high up.
I wanted to have the different shots of Sophia singing beforehand when I originally filmed, but I focused more on the other aspects as I knew I had the opportunity to use my windows at my old house.
The type of shots I hope to get are the wide shots, mid shots, close ups, extreme close ups and long shots. I want to be able to use the variety of shots in the missing areas of my video. This is going to help me use a wider range of shots, making it a lot more interesting to watch as the audience.
To make sure I have met the deadline of the work, I am going to take pictures for my digipak, album advert and edit the rest of my footage in for Friday the 13th, which allows me enough time to be able to edit and perfect it to the standard I want it to be at.

Production log - 11th November

Today I had a theory lesson with a different teacher, therefore I didnt get the chance to work on any of my coursework based work. However, I am going to be filming some more of my music video, continuing from where I left off last time. I am going to stick with my two actors of which I originally planned it to be, allowing me to be able to capture exactly what I want and the image in which I want to be able to portray.

The location which I have chosen for my filming today is in Callums house. I have chosen this for today due to the fact his house captures the exact look I wanted, with the vintage feel to it, and really carries a homely feel to it. I have constantly been trying to research into the sort of music video which could influence me and my choice of how my music video will turn out. It is a good day to film inside aswell due to the fact the weather is not practical for recording today.

Once I have carried out the filming session tonight I am going to upload this to my blog, for raw footage material, therefore allowing me to start editing and moving forward with my music video. I plan to do a recording of myself talking about my progress and my journey to clearly signify the changes made and how I have noticed this, adapting my music video around these changes.

Project log - 31st October

On Monday I had started my filming and had got the introduction to the song done. I was planning on continuing today but due to a set back on one of my actors life, I couldn't film as I had planned. As this has not set me back a whole day and has impacted on the stage of which I am at, I am going to carry out two afternoon sessions after school when we return back to school after half term. This way I will be able to catch up on the work which I had missed out on, and I will be able to film a lot more. I have gathered some footage from the previous day, but I would like to extend that and capture more of which I am able to get further into the video.

Project log - 28th October

Today I spent the day with Callum and Sophia. I started filming for my music video and have got the introduction of the song done. I am meeting them again on Thursday so that I can carry on and get more shots from different angles etc. I want to have another 30 seconds to one minute done by the end of Thursday, it doesn't seem like a long time but it means that I can vary the shots and angles I use. 

Project log - 23rd October 2013

I have been constantly organising when I am going to film most of my music video and how long it is going to take me. I want it to be during the half term so that I have a lot of time to get everything sorted and get my actress sorted and prepared for her performance. During the half term I am planning on completing the majority of my music video. I have come up with some new ideas of how I want my video to be. I have come up with a new structure to it and the different shots I will include.

After talking to my teacher previously today, I was quite unsure on my plan of what I wanted to actually include and how I was going to make sure I made my time worth while. After discussing this, I asked a friend, Callum, if he would be in my video to play the male in the video, highlighting the narrative of the video, as the performance is mainly done by Sophia. Following on from this, I continued with my research and have gathered new ideas which I intend to carry out in half term with both Sophia and Callum.

Project log - 17th October 2013

In todays lesson, I have focused on going through my blog and looking at what I need to do and what can be improved on. I think that since last lesson, I have developed my ideas through looking at other music videos to give me inspiration. A youtube artist called 'Hobbie Stuart' sings the sort of songs which I have chosen to focus on, and therefore, I have watched his videos to get inspiration.
One of the ones that I found really helpful was the 'we cant stop' remix he did. The video was so natural looking and is very much a flowing piece of music. Much like mine, it is focused on the main actor which is himself. Also, very similarly, he includes both internal and external shots, which I intend to do to get the audience familiar with the actress.

Project log - 10th October 2013

Project log - 1st October

Project log - 1st October

Project log - 20th September

Today I took it upon myself to re-record my actress singing the song I chose of 'let her go'. I wanted to ensure that I could fit in all of the aspects into my video to what I wanted to originally. Before I had a soundtrack of 1 minute and 51 seconds, but after a lot of research I felt that I wouldn't have been able to achieve the best I wanted to with only a small amount of time. I re-recorded the track at a time of 3 minutes 55 seconds. I think this is going to benefit me a lot more as I will be able to fit in all of the different shots and scenes that I had originally planned. I am going to shoot my first set of scenes next week hopefully in spare time, so I can start editing in lesson time.

Project log - 12th September

Today I recorded Sophia singing the song which I am going to be using. It was a live performance, recorded in a studio. I had a problem with the backing track as it was only one minute and a half, but I decided to go ahead with the recording as my actress/singer said it was the only one she had found to suit her voice. Even though it is a shorter song, I have decided it would be good to have even if I wasnt able to use it for my real piece. I also got some footage which I am going to use for the start of my video, which was before singing and preparing for the song. For the recording of this, I used a mircophone, Canon 500D and editing software on a computer. I did this with the help of two friends who have experience in recording in studios which allowed me to gain some knowledge on the area.

Project log - 12th September

Today I am recording my singer as I have planned to have a live performance of the song 'Let her go'. I am going to record her at a friends house Metin, who has a recording studio at his house, and is studying Music tech and media also. I think it will be good for me to be able to use this as an experience as he has the knowledge of recording as it is one of his interests. Also, I will shoot some of my footage there as I want to have a shot of the 'behind the scenes' before the actual singing begins. Im excited to be able to use the technology that I will be today as I havent used it before and I will be able to analyse the difference in quality that it makes to the overall outcome.

Project log - 10th September

Today in class I had started to make my storyboards and to progress onto the planning stages of my work. I wanted to be able to plan out a thorough idea of what I am going to have in each scene. In the end, I planned out every 10-15 seconds of the song up to a minute and a half, giving me a rough idea of what scenes I need to have. I have booked myself a camera from school to allow myself to film my actress singing and performing on the 12th of September. I have gone through my ideas with Sophia (my actress) and told her about how I want to my video to look and sound.

Project log - 5th September

Project log - 2nd September

I have been working on the remains of my research tasks for a few hours now and have made a good attempt of finishing the list. Remaining I have 5 tasks, in which I aim to have finished or nearly finished by the end of the day. This will help me so much when I return back to school tomorrow as I will have a lot more time to be able to focus on the different aspects of preparing for my video, and what I can include to make it successful. I can also use my time wisely to get my blog up to scratch and maybe even start to film.

Project log - 21st July

Since my last update, I have made good progress with my blog. I have completed half of the research tasks which now gives me a good amount of time over the holidays to be able to complete the rest of it. I have completed all of the tasks which I had the strongest understanding of and those which I am accessible to certain software. When I return from holiday and go back to school, I hope to be back on track working on my planning of my video and also the continuance of researching into all of the different areas I need to study for my music video.

Project log - 19th July

As I will be going on holiday in a few days, I have done some extra work in order to allow myself the time when I get home to relax and continue working without being too far behind. I need to ensure that I am working to a high standard and am getting all my work done on time, so that I can meet my deadline without having to rush or be panicked about having little amounts of time. I want to be able to finish as much of the research tasks by the end of the summer holidays, allowing myself the time to work on planning during lessons and my free time, helping me complete it quicker.