Editing.

Today we have started editing using iMovie HD on the iMac computers. After uploading all of the final scenes from the HD camcorder, we started to cut the clips up into easier editing lengths and started to order them in the sequence it appears in the video.

We have put together the draft of the first verse and part of the chorus, and so far have managed to keep the lip-syncing in time with the song.

We just need to keep up with spending our own time in the iMac room to make sure we get the music video completed.

Filming - Outside Locations.

This weekend we have got together again to film the last half of our scenes which are located outside. However, the British weather was still as unpredictable as ever, and we had to improvise our filming in the rain armed with umbrellas to make sure the camera was protected from the rain.
Even with these drawbacks and obstacles, we still managed to film the scenes that were needed and are quite happy with the results considering the weather conditions.
Now this is all of our filming done for now, but if when editing we notice that more needs to be added then we will film again.

Next step is editing.

Amendments to story.

After commencing our filming and playing the clips back, we realised that the actual storyline between the two characters may not be as clear as we expected it would. Although we wanted to maintain the suspense and uncertainty to entice the target audience into watching the whole video; the audience will need to be given a certain amount of information so that this suspense and uncertainty will be effective - not just lead to a mass of confusion and a lot of headaches.

To make the present story more clear, we have decided to show more clips of the characters history together:
-It will be set in the park - the boy and girl are walking together holding hands, etc. But here's the twist - as the camera goes round the tree to focus on the couple again, the boy is seen sitting there by the tree on his own without the girl. In between this will be flashes of the girl texting the boy 'I'm sorry it's over'. This will then set the scene for the boy to be revealed as a 'stalker' following his ex. The girl is later seen going crazy/mad.

Filming - Inside locations.

We have finally started filming. With our storyboard of scenes and equipment at hand, locations organised, alongside all of our planning completed; it was then time to start shooting the video. The characters were played by Ryan Beecham and myself, with Nichola as the director.
Today we have filmed the scenes which only take place inside, as we hope for better weather to be able to film outside.
The filming came out quite well today and hopefully will be reflected on screen when we upload the clips and start editing on the iMacs. All that is left to do is to film the scenes which take place outside and hopefully that will be our filming done.

Health and Safety - Risk Assessment.

-No filming in inappropriate locations.

-Check safety of locations, e.g. roads.

-Minimize risk of theft of equipment.

-When filming on location ensure teacher and responsible adult know where you are and have your telephone number and when you will return.

-Check all equipment work before you leave.

-Ensure you have permission for filming if necessary.

-Always film with at least one other person.

-Ensure you have the permission of those you are filming.

These are the precautions we will have to take on board to make sure our filming commences with heightened safety and less trouble.

Audiences and Audience Theory - continued (2).

Feminist Film Theory and Audiences

-In 1975, Laura Mulvey changed the way people looked at cinema through her influential essay titled 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'.

Key points taken from this are below -
-Cinema reflects society.
-Therefore cinema reflects a patriarchal society (male-dominated society).
-There is a 'Glass-Ceiling' effect for women; which is a metaphor for the fact that women can see the 'top', but can not get through or reach it.

How does a patriarchal society manifest itself in cinema?
An example :
-Patriarchy and phallocentrism are linked.
-The phallus is the symbol of power.
-Note how guns are used in films, GUNS=PHALLUS=POWER
-The male mid-life crisis and phallocentrism.

The GAZE
-The 'gaze' of the camera is the male 'gaze'.
-The male gaze is active, the female is passive.
-Within the narrative, male characters direct their gaze towards female characters.
-The spectator is made to identify with the male look, because the camera films from the optical, as well as the libidinal, point of view of the male character.
-Thus three levels of the cinematic gaze - CAMERA>CHARACTER>SPECTATOR - that objectify the female character (THE TRIPLE GAZE).
-Therefore the audience is constructed as though everyone was male.
-Women are forced to look as though they were a male audience member.

Agency
-In the Classical Hollywood cinema, the male protagonist has agency - he is active and powerful.
-He is the agent around whom the dramatic action unfolds.
-The female character is passive and powerless - she is the object of desire for the protagonist and audience.

Final Preparation.

Name of track - Paranoia

Artist - My Future Lies

Students in group - Nichola Pritchard , Jessica Tilley and Karly Knight.

Outline of the ideas :-

Basically, the girl has rejected the boy and now in the video, the boy is seen stalking the girl throughout the whole video. It is only when the girl is standing in front of the mirror that she realizes he is behind her.

Some ideas - the girl is walking down the street and the boy stalker is lip-syncing the song behind her while following her. We will prerecord the boy singing into the web cam, and play this in the background when the girl is sitting on the bed looking at her phone in front of the laptop (but she doesn't notice).

Justification of Ideas - The idea of a paranoid girl believing she is being followed relates to the lyrics of 'Paranoia'. With our ideas, we want to derive the meaning of the lyrics and present in the best way possible on screen. Since conventions of rock videos are typically quite dark, we decided to use the darkest, almost thriller-like idea we could get to represent and portray the song.

Resources we will need :-

-Actors/Actress

-Bed

-Mirror

-Phone

-Laptop

Genre - Rock

Conventions of Rock Genre -

-Rock music is all about the teenage rebellion; in which anger, frustration and rage against the world are experienced, and teenagers turn to rock music to release and express their emotions.

-Lyrics are often very meaningful, and the audience has to decode the meaning or story presented in it.

-The lyrics are not used to beautify the world as the pop culture often does, but it represents the world for what it really is.

-The music videos usually show a darker story, which is used to help the audience decode the preferred meaning or message of the lyrics.

Target audience -

-Due to the research into the conventions of rock music, we have realized that we will be best benefited in having teenagers as our focal target audience.

-Rock music is all about the rebellious stage of teenagers, so they will be the target group that would relate more to this type of music/song than others.

Proposal as to How to Expand Audience/Increase Sales

-I think the best way to expand audiences and increase sale profits is to advertise.

The next step is to decide where it would be advertised to be beneficial.

-One idea is to have a poster/an advertisement spread over a page in a magazine. However, this magazine would have to be one which would grab the attention of the target audience.

An ideal magazine would be :

Kerrang -

-This is the biggest selling magazine, which specifies in rock music and culture.

-Promotes all the latest bands and songs, while giving information about the band to make them more interesting and noticable by the public.

-Not only does it target teenagers, it also targets teenagers who rock music appeals to.

Research into Artist

My Future Lies - http://www.myfuturelies.com/

-Independent Australian band who have sold almost as many records in Europe as they have back at home.

-Genre - Rock

-Previous band name was Acid Eyeliner

-“I am not interested at all in being the latest fad,” the singer Lukey says. “I want our gigs to be places where people come because they really love our songs."

-“The thing I try to do most in my music is to be really honest,” Lukey says. “The lyrics are simple but convey the message really well, which is usually message about love."

-Highlights included regular appearances on MTV, as well as a massive support slot on The Veronicas’ show at the Hodern Pavilion in Sydney. (The band has since shared bills with the likes of The Living End, MCFLY, Dragon, Choir Boys and Mental As Anything).

Audiences and Audience Theory.

Suture.

-Classical Hollywood narrative and editing 'sutures' or positions the audience in certain ways making only one preferred reading possible, however unconscious the audience is of that position.

An example of this is seen in the film 'Crash'.

Audience Theory - continued (3).

Reception Theory.

-Given that the Effects model and the Uses and Gratifications have their problems and limitations a different approach to audiences was developed by the academic Stuart Hall at Birmingham University in the 1970s.
-This considered how texts were encoded with meaning by producers and then decoded (understood) by audiences.

-The theory suggests that :
-When a producer constructs a text that is encoded with a meaning or message that the producer wishes to convey to the audience.
-In some instances audiences will correctly decode the message or meaning and understand what the producer was trying to say.
-In some instances the audience will either reject or fail to correctly understand the message.

-Stuart Hall identified three types of audience readings (or decoding) of the text :
1. Dominant or preferred.
2. Negotiated.
3. Oppositional.


1. Dominant.
-Where the audience decodes the message as the producer wants them to do and broadly agrees with it.
-E.g. Watching a political speech and agreeing with it.

2. Negotiated.
-Where the audience accepts, rejects or refines elements of the text in light of previously held views.
-E.g. Neither agreeing or disagreeing with the political speech or being disinterested.

3. Oppositional.
-Where the dominant meaning is recognised but rejected for cultural, political or ideological reasons.
-E.g. Total rejection of the political speech and active opposition.