Problems.

Throughout the process of making the music video we have came across many problems, mainly involving casting. We had to recast the lead singer various times and think of alternatives in which we could work around the problem. Our first singer was unable to attend any of the shooting so we had to change the cast, we was going to change the position of max and put him as lead singer as he has the look, keep Aiden on drums and find someone who had the look to replace max on guitar. after thinking about it carefully, we decided it would be easier and would look better to just get someone brand new in to be the lead singer. this is why we chose terry. We chose him because he has the look and max looks better on guitar because he can actually play in comparison to someone who cant play. Then on the day of filming we had to change the drummer because we realized that Aiden didn't really fit the part because, like max, the drums would look better with someone who could actually play, this is why we got Shaun to take the role, because he had the look and looked convincing playing the drums.

other problems we had was timing, we found it hard to get everyone together at the same time due to everyone's schedules, but when we eventually got everyone together and filmed it looked really good first time. i think this helped us because we was running out of time and we had to be able to shoot the band performances quick and effectively leaving us enough time to cut and edit the footage.

Another problem was the editing and where we thought things should go because we stopped doing story boards half way through because we thought it would look better free style. i think it did look better free style, and even though we had good ideas down on paper, once we started getting out and filming, we came up with better ideas and ways we could improve the individual shots.

Last Poster

This is the last version of my poster I did. I changed the colour slightly to try and make it fit with my digipak more, I think it looks good now and connotes the genre a lot more. The colours help bring it all together because they are really simple. The social media sites make it look professional and add a sophisticated look to it as well as the date. The red tone connotes death and blends with the blue to put the sorrow of the death. The colours, even though simple do portray the emotions and feelings well because people can naturally associate the two and understand it better.  Overall I like the end result and wouldn't want to change it. 

Poster 3.

This is another version on my poster. I think it looks good but given more time I think I could make it look better by adding more interesting images. I like how it looks and I think it doesn't really show the true codes and conventions of a post grunge genre artist, but I like it because i went against theories that said they had to look a specific way. Overall i really like the end result but given more time i could try and fit moer codes and conventions in it.

Feedback.

 

Poster 2

I like this poster because it looks more appealing and aims more and consumers and you have a better understanding what the poster is for. to improve this i might add some more layers of a similar background and add some social media sites to make it look more professional. I like the blue because to me it connotes sorrow and this album is about his life and the things that haven't really gone well for him so i think it works well. 

Final Digipak.

This is my final Digipak. I used a mixture of dark tones to try and create an edgy feel. I like the way its tired out. I think that to develop it I could change some of the colours in places, and change some of th enlaces in which the pictures are placed. I think that the tones work well because it isn't too dark but it isn't too bright, or 'pop'-like. I like the extra features, especially the dog tag, and i think it works well because you would normally associate the people who wear that type of thing as quite tough, which is great because people who listen to grunge/post grunge/rock are quite tough and butch so it works well; and for people who are not as tough, there is a lyric and chord book for those who want to have the softer approach on the genre and be more involved with it in general. I like the front cover because its simple but effective. I like how the woods are in the background, and contrast with the black cover. i think this worls with the typical conventions of post grunge; series and glum, but i changed it slightly by adding some swirly mist-like background over it to actually look eerie. The CD  is s representation of the band as a whole; messy and powerful. I put their signatures on the CD because i thought this would look cool and would work well because the signatures contrast with the blue and white background making them more prominent and important. Overall, i think that my digipak is good in relation to lack of skill on photoshop and i am quite proud with the finished product because i think that it  does reflect the typical post grunge genre well and effectively. 

Planning for Shooting etc.

Cast changing.

Because of how unreliable our lead singer was, we had to re-cast and drop Joe. We had to pick someone up who could pull the look off, even if they couldn't be the singer, as long as they fitted in the genre, we could change the band around a bit. This will be beneficial for our filming because it means that we can gegt the filming done, and we have more time and chances of being able to film because none of the band work and they all go school together. This means that we can film during free lessons meaning we will get more footage and it will be easier to re-shoot if anything goes wrong.

Steady cam testing.

These are just me and Aiden getting to grips with the steady cam. We're still practicing with the steady cam because we think it will work really well for our video because we can get the handled shot, but in a smoother transition. we think this piece of equipment ill be very beneficial for our video. 

Filming

Today we started filming some of Max's key shots.

We started by setting Max up in front of a plain wall. This will mean that Max will get all the attention within this shot. We dressed him in dark clothes because we thought it would go with the grungy look. The way Max's hair falls and looks goes with the grungy look and works really well. We did some out of focus shots because we thought they would look edgy and cool. We did a lot of close ups involving a lot of changing to the depth of field.

                     

Here are some of the shots. We are going to go through them in more depth later to see which shots work the best bed

More Locations.

These are some more of the settings we are considering using for our video because it has the kind of look we are going for. We decided because the background is black it would add to the grungy feel, and it would look quite cool if we dressed it up a bit with tea lights and candles so we have a very dim light. 

We thought the idea of filming some shots on a bench when the natural light is dim to make it look more dingy. we aren't going to use the bench in this picture we are going to find one closer to the main filming location so that all the locations link in with each other better and will have a smoother finish. 

Verbal Feedback.

 

Verbal feedback.

This is the verbal feedback on my blog so far. We talked about what I need to do and where I currently am. We discussed the fact that I am not up to date and where I need to improve.

Other locations.

When we actually started the shooting we found some other areas which we thought could work well along with the current woods, bar and shed setting. We looked at streets where cars came past, a room in drama for some band performances and a corner of an outside building, and we are going to try and incorporate more when we have a better idea of how we want the video to look once we've taken shots. 

Here is the building with the outside corner where we decided that we wanted joe to light his  cigarette. We filmed it at night so that it was dark to add to the grungy feel. 

This is the street we used for the fast forwarded part of the video where cars are coming from both sides of joe. we filmed this at night to so that we could get the lights from the cars going past and so that, like the corner of the building would give the grungy effect. 

   

Poster

 

 

This is my poster. I used the same image from the front of my digipak cover because I wanted to be able to link both pieces together. I also liked the simplicity of the front cover so I thought It would look good as the poster too. To change it from the original I added a eerie layer on it, with clouds and more starry bits, even though this is not the typical grunge effect I thought that it looked good and linked with the CD itself which I thought made it work. Overall, I like it even though its the same as the digiak cover and I wouldn't want to change it much, or at all for that matter because I think its turned out quite well. I like the bluey tone because blue connotes cold and I think that is a representation of the singers heart after he lost his girlfriend.

Planning. (so far)

For our shooting we have very limited time due to some of the people in the music video having jobs so we have to plan around them and before certain times in the day because we need specific lighting for the effect we want. We have shot a few bits but they don't look as good as what we wanted them to.  We were unable to shoot many shots in the holidays because we didn't plan properly and we didn't check if anyone was free to shoot. For the future planning we have feted ahead to see if people are free, and plan dates where everyone is free to film. 

As for the first shots; we didn't think they were as good as we could get them and we want to re-shoot but experiment with more angles to make it look more professional and visually interesting.  

here is one of the shots. For this one we just did a still of his face with cars passing past him and fast forwarded the whole footage. I think it looked good, but we need to keep his face centred throughout the whole clip. 

 

Lyrics for the music video.

"The Gift"

Hold me now I need to feel relief
Like I never wanted anything
I suppose I'll let this go and find a reason I'll hold on to
I'm so ashamed of defeat
And I'm out of reason to believe in me
I'm out of trying to get by

I'm so afraid of the gift you give me
I don't belong here and I'm not well
I'm so ashamed of the lie I'm living
Right on the wrong side of it all

I can't face myself when I wake up
And look inside a mirror
I'm so ashamed of that thing
I suppose I'll let it go
Until I have something more to say for me
I'm so afraid of defeat
And I'm out of reason to believe in me
I'm out of trying to defy

I'm so afraid of the gift you give me
I don't belong here and I'm not well
I'm so ashamed of the lie I'm living
Right on the wrong side of it all

Hold me now I need to feel complete
Like I matter to the one I need

I'm so afraid of the gift you give me
I don't belong here and I'm not well
I'm so ashamed of the lie I'm living
Right on the wrong side of it all

Now I'm ashamed of this
I am so ashamed of this
Now I'm so ashamed of me
I am so ashamed of me...

First draft pitch.

This is the first draft for our pitch. We are missing a few key aspects of it so we need to add them to it and present it again as the first time didn't go to plan due to the lack of slides. We need to talk about things such as audience profiles and basically more depthful explanations. I think we have a clear idea of what we want in our music video and how we want our band to be presented, but we just haven't explained it the way we should of. 

Production Log.

Location plans.
For the location it has to be quite dark and dingy so we thought a good place may be somewhere like our friends shed as it is dark and is quite rustic looking. This location would be good because if we put candles in there it would give it a grungy vibe which is what we want. The good thing about this location is thta it doesnt matter what time we shoot in there because we will have it lit up anywa with candles.

 Another location would be the woods, maybe at dusk because the dark and dinginess of it gives it an edgy vibe which goes with the grungy genre. The woods also links back to our cover of the digipak which helps relate the song and digipak together.The bad thing about using this location is that it gets dark really quickly, and we will only have a limited amount of time each day to shoot. This could have a negitive impact on out production because it will mean that it will take longer to film because we have to wait for the same time each day to be able to film.

Overall we realistically need dark and dull places to film because this will give our video a natural dingeyness to it whcih will give it an edgy feel to it. The best time to film the wood scenes will probably be about half 2 because we need to consider the time it takes to set up, and make sure we save enough times to do reshoots and things.

                                        

Costumes
For the music video the costumes will be similar to the ones I researched about before, like the checkered shirts, black skinny jeans or baggy jeans, band t-shirts, tattoos, etc. Most of this we already have, so we can just incorporate it with what the people, who are in the video, have and just buy some extra bits from a charity shop or something. We need to make sure the look is on point as it is a big part of our genre and video. This is an image of basic grunge wear. these would look good once we have effects over the video as it will duo the colours down and add an edgier feel.

Actors
For our actors we used people we know who look like they would fit within the genre of 'post grunge'. For our video we only need four actors maximum because it is based around the lead singer and his story. These are the actors we are using for our video. They obviously will not be smiling as much, but this is a basic view of what kind of image this band has.

Planning

We are going to start shooting our rough cut within the next week or two, so that we have time, if needed, to change the storyboard, or some of the shots. We haven't got a definite date yet as its hard with the main character having work, and the guitarists having school and other plans, although we will find out some definite dates and add them to our blog.

Handouts.

This is the hand out for our band, Tear Down. It gives a brief history,  their influences, and some information about them in general.  . We chose to put the picture of the lead singer as the background because people will be able to get a better idea on what type of style the band has and their distinguishing look. 

Verbal Feedback

 

This is a recording for new verbal feedback. We talked about where I currently am and what I needed to do to catch up with the rest of the class.