Updating the Cast 

After having a group discussion we decided to cast  George Acworth (lead singer), Molly Cadman ( guitar) , Felix Wood ( bass guitar ) and George Robertson ( drummer ) as our first choice. We then brought them together and asked them to perform together. We did this to help visualise what they would be like if they got casted for the actual video and it also helped us know exactly what we were looking for in terms of attitude.

Below is the video of the group and after watching the video we decided that we would look for more options for the role of the drummer as we thought that his energy didn't match the other three band players.

Casting 

With the casting process the group and I decided to get a list of people that played instruments and for the lead singer we looked around school for 7 people that we thought would fit the role. We had more than 2 options for the lead singer as it’s important that we get the role right as they play a vital role in making sure the music video looks good. For the  auditions we gave the potential lead singers the first 30 seconds of the song to learn and then filmed them dancing and lip singing to the song. For the instruments we asked them to send a video of them playing a song they previously already practiced.

We also had to keep in mind that we want our band to match each others vibe so to see if the band would fit in well we tried out different people in different groups to see if they would work as a whole. Here are some examples of the groups we tried.

Group 1

Group 2

Below is the casting list.

Below is our cast in order of first choice. We chose these people as we thought that they would fit the role perfectly and they played the instruments well.

We  gave them the beginning of the song to see how they would work with the lyrics and their kind of vibe. The beginning of the song also has the main lyrics which is ‘where is my head’ which helps us have an idea of what they  could be for the rest of the song.

Part for testing:

(0:13- 0:33)

i’m not pretty pretty tonight

this is awkward but serious

i am neither mean or polite

my wells are mysterious

please just tell me where is my head?

i don’t feel anything

(30 secs)

Lead singer:

• George Acworth

• Ashton Henry-reid 

• Mateo Anibarro

• Leto Carter-Johnson 

• Reuben Davies

Guitar Player:

• Molly Cadman

• Felix Wood

• Troi Hector

• Oscar Boatswain

Bass Player:

• Felix Wood

• Peter Ross

• Aran Tharmaratnam 

Drummer:

• George Robertson

• Emmanuel Dyer-Grimes

• Beau Gater (A2)

Below is the full casting video.

Advanced camera workshop 1

In this blog post I will be talking about the advanced camera workshop we had with Matt.

This workshop is meant to give me a deeper understanding of other settings that the camera has

We used a Black Magic 4k mini Ursa.

To set up a tripod the spirit level has to be levelled this ensures that while shooting the camera completely levelled. This is done by positioning the  bubble directly in the middle of the circle.

The tripod must be locked by the two locks on the side to keep the camera in place. The ‘tilt lock’ holds the camera in the tilt position and the ‘pan lock’ stops the camera from moving left or right

White balance is used to make sure that the colours we see in real  life are also portrayed on screen.  This makes what we’re shooting  more realistic and the camera gives you the option to change  the  white  balance to suit what you're shooting.

Exposure is the amount of light that goes into the camera’s lens, the brightness or the darkness of the video. Exposure helps us decide what kind of setting you’d like while filming.

We also shoot at 25 fps in the UK.

Shutter speed is the speed at which the shutter of the camera closes.  The shutter speed we use  is 180  and this has the same motion blur as real life movements. We change the shutter speed when we want to achieve a different effect  with movement. The smaller the shutter speed the sharper the movement looks and the higher the shutter speed the blurrier it will look. For example using a 360 shutter makes the movement  more blurry and this is used in a dreamy sequence or in a romantic setting to make things a little bit warmer. While a 90 shutter would make everything sharp and this would be used in a performance like sports or playing the guitar to ensure it’s in good quality.

Some of the rules Matt  talked about were:

‘Light for what the camera sees and not what you’re seeing’

This means that we should concentrate on the lighting on the screen as this is what it’s going to look like in the final outcome and not what  we actually see in real life.

‘Use the TV for framing only, otherwise always look through the lens.’

We use the TV to frame the subjects and place objects around otherwise  we should always look at what the camera screen is displaying.

‘The importance of both composition and actor positioning.’

Composition and actor positioning are important as if one or the  other looks off on camera then the whole shot wouldn’t be able to work well meaning that they  both need to be accurate in order for the shot to work.

Prime Lens 

The difference between zoom and prime lens is their focal length. A prime lens will have a focal length that ranges from 12 mm and 5200 mm while zoom lenses will have the zoom rings that allow you to change the focal length.

We use a prime lens as it provides a higher quality and the shallow focus provided creates a cinematic effect. To focus on a prime lens we take a tape measure and place it on the focal plane mark then move to where the subject is and the number that reads on the tape measure is the number you adjust on the focus ring.

An 18mm is used to establish the setting or introduce it, a 25 mm is used in wide angle shots, 50 mm is used for low lighting and 85 mm is used for close ups and shots of people’s faces.

The monitor we use to see what the product will look like 

Mood Board reflecting audience profiling

Having done research into the target audience and how audience profiling works I have created a mood board based on this. This mood board is meant to be a visual representation of what the audience expects to see from this band.

 Audience Profiling 

Our target audience is teenage girls between the ages of 16 - 17. This is because they are more likely to like the image created of the band.

Jicnars scale 

The jicnars is a scale that’s used to divide audiences into social groups. It goes from A to E and the higher you go up the scale the more the salary goes up and so does the level of education.

Our target audience fits into the E section as they are underage teenagers that aren’t working and are still in school.

Psychographic segmentation is based on lifestyle choices, beliefs, values and attitude. It’s very helpful for large scale marketing however it takes a lot longer to use.

Vals 

Vals stands for Values, attitudes and lifestyle and is the best in the psychographic system.

With this system our target audience would fit into the teenage vals more specifically the rebels.

Our audience would like our new band as they portray an image that they are just like everyone else and they dress like everyone else.  They would also like them because of their rhythm and music and also because of the atmosphere they create.

We will appeal to our target audience by adhering to conventional rules such as having a performance and using quick edits. 

Legal Letter 

As a production group we have created a legal letter which we sent to the record label. We do this because we don’t own the song and so we need to ask for permission from the owners to use the song.

Kid Dad is under the record label Long Branch Records which is German based.

This is Kid Dad under the record label's website

Underneath is a screenshot from Long Branch Record's youtube, this is the information we used to get in touch with them.

This is the legal letter we have written up that will be sent to the label asking for permission.

Research into genre conventions

Below is a presentation where I have looked into  4 bands that are part of the pop rock genre. These four bands were chosen by the group. In this presentation I look at how each band either subverts or adheres to stereotypes and what similarities/differences they have.

Feedback from the treatment

As a group we presented our visual and full treatment to our teaches. We then got feedback to help us develop our idea and where we can improve our ideas to make the song fit the genre more.

After the feedback we decided as group to change a few things . We decided to not have the camera being take out of the fridge as an intro but instead could be in the middle of the video during the second element.

We need to have a list of at least 20 things that  the band could be doing with the vcr camera that are specific and they need to fit into the genre. We need to have at least 20 things that are specific to ensure that the actors know what exactly they'll be doing on the day.The vcr is also going to be based on the lead singer. For example we said in the presentation they could be trying different clothes however that doesn’t work as it wouldn’t the genre of the band.

Our lighting also needs to be considered as well as natural lighting wouldn't fit the song atmosphere. Dark lighting would be better as it would fit the rough rock side of the son.

This is the colour scheme we thought about

This is the colour scheme that would fit the basement more 

We also need to consider some shots of the lead singer as he’s gonna be important. While casting we’ll need to find someone who is very charismatic, confident and  someone who has a lot of energy. This is gonna set the scene for the music video as it sets the tone.

For the elements we need to cut them down as we have too much going on which we won’t be able film so we  are going to reconsider the elements to make sure that we'll have enough time to film it all.

The amount of elements we currently have 

A key point the teachers made was that we need to think of the performances and the elements as individual points and not as different things that would be put together at specific points.

However our costumes and the content we had in our presentations was good as we have more to build on rather than less. For our second set we have two possible ways we could work on. The first is having the bright lights and the dark background and the second is having the Tv in the same set except that we take out the props in the basement except the background.

First option

Second option

Visual and Full Treatment 

As a group we worked together on a presentation to create  our visual and full treatment. We did the visual and full treatment to help communicate the  idea we have for the song through using pictures that we’ll recreate.

The treatments  include costumes, the set, social media campaign, etc.

Visual treatment

Full Treatment

Song Choice 

Today I was put in my group which consists of Maddie Black, Wendy Li and Millie Bubb. We created a group chat where we communicate our work and Ideas.

The group chat

We all collectively decided to choose ‘where is my head’ by Kiddad which has 489 views on Youtube. The song doesn’t have a music video and is part of their EP ‘Disorder’.

The band consists of Marius Vieth, Max Zdunek, Michael Reihle and Joshua Meinhert.

Kid Dad 

 

 Early feedback from song choice 

After picking my 4 songs I presented them to my class where I was given feedback. I picked my first two songs which were ‘ Fall Apart’ by Caro and ‘Race Car’ by Imani.

The feedback helped me know which direction I may go with these songs and whether or not I would be able to use them.

Caro the band

The first song I presented was ‘Fall Apart’ , immediately the class was able to tell that this was an indie boy band making it clear it isn’t a solo artist.

Casting will be easy as availability of students that would fit the roles is high.The song energy gives the idea that the members of the band can be between male and female which also makes casting easier as well as I am not limited to a specific gender. The audience would expect to see a bright and happy music video with shots focusing on the lead singer.

An example shot focusing on the lead singer

The attitude from the band members is less rebellious which means that the music video would be more laid back. For a first time low budget music video, it’s a versatile song that could be explored in many different ways. The song wouldn't be from a very conventional pop band and their target audience would be between the ages of 16 - 18.

An example of a conventional pop band

The second song I presented was ‘Race car’ by Imani.

Imani

It’s clear that it’s an artist, however it could also be a band with a female lead.Casting for this song would  be harder as the real artist is half Danish and Indian however the age wouldn't be hard to cast.

The genre of the music wasn’t that clear as everyone guessed pop while the song is more indie/alternative. The conventions expected by the audience would be a music video that wouldn’t follow  a storyline  that would have obscure visuals. It would be purely performance based, possibly with a few instruments. 

The artist could be pictured having a ‘don’t care attitude’ while having fun.One factor that could be a problem would be casting someone that could learn the song properly. Overall this is a good song choice for a low budget first time however planning it would require more detail and time to overcome any problems.