Music Video - Hold Your Head Up

Ancillary Task - Magazine Advert

Ancillary Task - Digipak

1. In which ways does your media product use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of media products?

When creating my media product I realised that certain aspects of my music video would have to be similar to other established music videos in order to target the audience that my product is intended.

In order to do this I conducted research into other media products of a similar genre to my own. One of my main influences was Ed Sheeran and his music video for The A Team and his video for Bloodstream. This was because his videos focus purely on narrative, and hold a deep meaning and subtext.

For my own media product to have the same effect as my style model, I had to use similar conventions which would allow my music video to be professional and recognisable to the target audience, while also having a deep, thought provoking subtext that is unique to my product.

My music video challenges the conventions of ordinary media products by being based on narrative more than the musical artist performing the song. As some audiences could find the concept of a narrative based music video to be a lot more like watching a movie, as it is something that requires your attention. Where as average music video's don't require much of the audiences attention and therefore are more commonly enjoyed, however I wanted to cater to my niche audience and decided that the song which I have chosen is perfectly suitable to the style of video I have decided to make.

These are the videos I used as references, the one to the right is The A Team and the one below is Bloodstream. I used certain aspects from each videos, for example I decided to have some scenes in my video black and white, as they are in The A Team. However i also used dark, and poorly lit scenes, like in Bloodstream. I have chosen to do this because the scenes empathise the emotions of my characters and also represent memories of how things once where. I developed this by having select scenes which would be memories (These are the black and white ones) and others which show how things are now. (These are the dimly lit scenes)


I wanted my video to seem ammeter and almost like it was lots of home videos pieced together, rather than the more staged video's that are more commonly seen on music channels. I decided to do this as my characters are portraying a story of their lives and I wanted it to be realistic and therefore I didn't use a tripod much, I used a hand held camera which gave my video a sort of rustic feel to it.

I believe that my music video challenges the conventions but still I have developed my used of conventions also. For example I have used camera angles that i know will provoke an emotional response from my audience. I used close ups on facial expressions and establishing shots to show the location of filming. I've also used different angles, using low shots to record the feet of the characters running and I've even used a time lapse of the sky to establish what time of day it was.

2. How effective is the combination of you main tasks and ancillary tasks?

3. How have you learned from you audience feedback?

 

4. How did you use media tech in construction, planning and evaluation stages?

Ancillary Task - Magazine Advert

This is my magazine advert for my digipak. As you can see from the image I have chosen to have rather dark  house colours, this is because I really like the idea of using silhouettes and creating them myself as I have demonstrated in previous posts. 
Also the genre of my Music Video is a sub-genre of Indie music and from research I noted that indie music is all about personality and individuality, which is what I wanted my advert to have. While also having its own sense of character 

The Main Cover Image is a tiled college of the musical artists face. I wanted to use this because I thought it was a quite unique idea and would draw in an audiences attention. I have then placed three silhouettes on to of the main image, the first being the large tree. Second the three birds and thirdly the couple who're holding hands.

I chose to place the silhouettes on top of the background image because I believe it gives my advert a sense of character and moves away from the main conventions of other magazine advertisements.

The text on my advert is minimal and this is because I wanted the audience to focus mainly on the images. The main head of the advert is the artists name in a bold font with a white outline to make it stand out that much more. The other text is a basic 'OUT NOW' announcement and the name of the album/digipak. There is also a small three word review type quote at the foot of the page and an RSS scan which allowed me to incorporate social media without it being all over the page.

My Production company name is also in the left corner of the header of the page, its of a low opacity as I didn't want it to stand out to much and take attention away from the actual advertisement.

People silhouette cont...

This is the progression of editing the original image (top) and then creating a silhouette by applying a colour overlay and then I added an additional blur to the image to minimise the affect of jagged edges.

Digipak editing cont...

This is a photograph I have taken to use as a silhouette on my Digipak and advertisement. Using photoshop I will cut out all of the background and use a colour overly to gain the silhouette affect.

Post-production Tree Silhouette

 In this post I am showing you how I developed my image of a tree into a silhouette, and how I layered it to make it seem fuller than it already is. To begin with, using the magic want tool and also the quick select, I cut out the majority of the background. I then added a black colour overlay, which made the tree a silhouette. From this I then began to duplicate the layers and place them over each other so that the tree looked larger, as originally it seemed a little small. I added four duplicate layers to build on the tree and my finished product is the last image on this post.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

 I have came to the conclusion that I do not like the majority of my video footage, however I would like to stick with my original idea but re-film a couple scenes to make them less choppy and unprofessional. This re-filming should only take up a weekend, and with the co-operation of my actors I believe that I can get everything done in that short space of time.

digipak update

Here I
have added the image of my artist 'Nate Maxwell'

However there are still a couple things that i would like to change.

Digipak update

This is how my digipak look so far, as you can see there are two slots missing. One is for the track list and the other is for an image of the artist. I am currently in the middle of producing these images digitally.

Track list digipak

I have decided that i want my track list to look hand written, I have yet to decided if I am actually going to hand write it, or use a cursive font like the one on the left. I am going to write up & edit some drafts and then collect audience feedback on what one looks best.

Digipak - Original Images

For my digipak I have used 5 original images, four I created myself and scanned on to the computer and the other I took digitally and uploaded. I have used photoshop to digitally enhance my images and also to add texts, filters and blurs.

 This is a section I cut from a road map, as my album is called home I wanted to use liverpool as this is my home.

 I used a song book, and cut out a section of notes.

 I used water colours and bleach to create this wave.

I used water colours to mould the colours together.

This is a picture I have taken of my house.

Post Production

I have added the more recent filming to my edited video, it still needs editing a little more and there is more filming to come.

Filming

I have proceeded with the second session of filming. However due to the weather I was unable to complete all of the scenes which means I'll have to take another day out to film.

Update

After a long deliberation with myself I have yet again decided to change the song that I am using for my video. This is because I have found a more suitable song that relates with the narrative. The footage and storyline is going to be the same and filming will commence on 2/2/15.

The lyrics to the song..

Keep You Head Up - Ben Howard

I spent my time watchin' the spaces that have grown between us.
And I cut my mind on second best or the scars that come with the greeness.
And I gave my eyes to the boredom, still the seabed wouldn't let me in,
And I tried my best to embrace the darkness in which I swim.

I'm walkin' back down this mountain
With the strength of a turnin' tide
Oh the wind's so soft on my skin,
The sun so hard upon my side.
Oh lookin' out at this happiness,
I search for between the sheets.
Oh feelin' blind and realize,
All I was searchin' for was me.
Ooh all I was searchin' for was me.

Keep your head up, keep your heart strong.
No, no, no, no.
Keep your mind set, keep your hair long.
Oh my my darlin' keep your head up, keep your heart strong.
No no no no, keep your mind set in your ways, keep your heart strong.

I saw a friend of mine the other day,
And he told me that my eyes were gleamin'.
Oh I said I had been away, and he knew,
Oh he knew the depths I was meanin'.
And it felt so good to see his face,
Or the comfort invested in my soul.
Oh to feel the warmth of a smile,
When he said "I'm happy to have you home.
Ooh I'm happy to have you home."

Yeah, keep your head up, keep your heart strong.
Oh, no, no, no, no.
Keep your mind set, keep you hair long.
Oh my my darlin', keep your head up, keep you heart strong.
No no no no, keep your mind set in your ways,
Keep your heart strong.
'Cause I'll always remember you the same.
Oh eyes like wild flowers within demons of change.

May you find happiness there,
May all your hopes all turn out right.
Ooh may you find happiness there,
May you find warmth in the middle of the night.

Yeah, keep your head up, keep your heart strong.
Oh, no, no, no, no.
Keep your mind set, keep you hair long.
Oh my my darlin', keep your head up, keep you heart strong.
No no no no, keep your mind set in your ways,
Keep your heart strong.
'Cause I'll always remember you the same.
Oh eyes like wild flowers within demons of change.

Update On Post-Production

So far from the raw footage I have cut scenes down and edited them so that they follow the flow of the music, so far I have this above clip. Obviously this isn't finished and I also need to film more to slot other clips in and break the footage down so theres an even balance of action shots and stills/close-ups etc...

Update 17/1/15

I began filming some rough shots for my music video over the weekend, the weather wasn't that good so it sort of affect the amount I could film but I did manage to get a few relatively good shots.

Variations Of Digipak

I've composed a collection of Digipak front covers, I've played about with different themes and styles that would attract an audience...

Digipak research...

I've been doing a lot more research on looking into Digipak's and some other Digipak analysis' online. This has really helped me when looking to create my own Digipak.

I have created a basic outline of what I would like the front cover of my Digipak to look like and from this I am going to move on to the other aspects of the task.

Time Lapse

I have been researching time-lapse video's and how to create them. I have discovered that there are many ways of doing this, for example, I could take images of the sky at set intervals of the day and then slot them all together to create a time lapse of the sun set or sunrise.

I could also, record the the sunset and then whilst in editing speed up the footage to create a fast paced sunset.

After considering both options I think it's would be best to test the both of them and therefore I can chose the clip that I think looks better and more professional.

Filming Dates

I am hoping to film the scenes that don't involve the actors on Saturday 17th, ex the establishing shot and the skyline shot that will be sped up. These will be taken at The Everton View, during the day times.

The rest of the filming will be done hopefully the week after, with the actors.

Lighting.

I will be using mainly natural lighting as most of my scenes are shot outside during the daytime and therefore I shouldn't have to use artificial lighting. The only time  might have to use lighting will be if filming at night, although I do have umbrella lights that would work to illuminate the scene and if worst comes to worst I can always adjust the lighting effects when editing in iMovie.

Sound FX

I haven't really thought about using sound effects in my music video, however I think using one of a heart rate monitor flat lining at the beginning before the song kicks in would be a rather effective way of suggesting what the video was about before the actually video had began. This will be something that I will be sure to try out in the future, and that way I can evaluate whether or not it works or not.

Actors

The actors in my music video are going to be my six year old twin nieces, as the main characters (Aaliyah&Lychelle) and their Mum(my sister), Kesna playing their mother.

I have chosen these to be the actors as for the story I want my narrative to portray I have to have a close knit family bond that is real so its believable when watching the video. I want the story line of my music video to be as real and emotive as possible because it does tackle a real issue of loss and how it affects children in ways that you might not really pick up on.

Location

The main location for my filming is the Everton View, Liverpool and I have chosen this location as it looks over the whole of Liverpool and has a spectacular view that will be good to use for establishing shots. This location also has a park and lots of hills that propose good filming locations for the smaller family-like scenes.

The second location will be a cemetery, as this is for when the children place flowers on their mothers grave. i have chosen this location as it is very practical.

The third location is for when we set lanterns off and as it would have to be night time I have chosen to do this in my own back yard. I also have a set of umbrella lights that will act as the lighting for outside so that its not to dark to see the filming.

Costume

The costumes that I will be using will be winter themed so for the children:

• Wellington boots, or black boots, jeans/leggings, t-shirts /sweaters and winter coats. - this will be the costume for the park setting.
• Pink dressed with cardigans, nice dolly shoes, and jackets - this will be for the cemetery scene.

For the mother:

• Legging's and a sweater with knee high boots, to connote a really mumsy outfit. 
• during scenes where you see her watching over her children, a more white angelic outfit.

Props

The props that I am going to be using are:

A picnic basket&Blanket 
A football
Flowers 
Candles 
Paper Lanterns

These props will be used during the day of filming where we shoot family scenes and the children and their mother playing at the park, and also at the cemetery where the children will be visiting the grave of there mother.

Filming

I am hoping to start filming over the next two weeks as I will also have to self edit the video, as I am single handedly creating this music video. I have already plotted out a storyboard and have a rough idea of scenes, and how to direct them.

Progress (Story Board)

Storyboard 

The basic idea of my video is that the two main characters (who are 6) have lost their mother and its them reflecting on memories of being with their mother and then her not being there any more. 

I'm going to do this by having shots of them playing in the park with the mother and then shots of her not being there and how it changes. One example of this will be the children will be being pushed on the swings by there mother in one shot and then in another it will just be them on the swings on there own.

Prezi of storyboard

Ben Howard Lyric's

Only Love - Ben Howard

Darling you're with me, always around me.
Only love, only love.
Darling I feel you, under my body.
Only love, only love.
Give me shelter, or show me heart
Come on love, come on love.
Watch me fall apart, watch me fall apart.

And I'll be yours to keep.
A wind in the shadow, a whale song in the deep.
A wind in the shadow, a whale song in the deep.

Darling you're with me, always around me.
Only love, only love.
Darling I feel you, under my body.
Only love, only love.
Give me shelter, or show me heart
Come on love, come on love.
Watch me fall apart, watch me fall apart.

And I'll be yours to keep.
A wind in the shadow, a whale song in the deep.
A wind in the shadow, a whale song...

Darling you're with me, always around me.
Only love, only love.
Darling I feel you, under my body.
Only love, only love.
Give me shelter, or show me heart
Come on love, come on love.
Watch me fall apart, watch me fall apart.

Watch me fall apart, watch me fall apart,
Watch me fall apart, watch me fall apart,
Watch me fall apart, watch me fall apart,

Only love love love,
Only love love love,
Only love love love,
Girl show me heart.
Come on love love love,
Come on love love love,
Come on love love love.
Watch me fall apart.
Come on love love love,
Come on love love love,
Come on love love love.
Girl show me heart.
Show me love love love,
Show me love love love,
Show me love love love.
Watch me fall apart.

Darling I feel you, under my body
Darling you're with me, forever and always.
Give me shelter or show me heart.
And watch me fall apart, watch me fall apart.

Plans

I am now working on my own. Because of this I have chosen to create a music video to Ben Howards — Only Love.

It's a beautiful song and I believe that I can create a contemporary video that reflects the lyrics in the song.

I am working on a story board at the moment and I am planning to have as copy uploaded by Monday at the latest and I hope to start recording Wednesday. I have already got some ideas for cast members, and for a basic narrative. I really think that this idea is going to come together quite nicely.

Rear of digipak

The rear of the digipak uses the same background ask the cover which gives it a recurring theme. The font for the header is the same, but the text size is smaller.

again some of the colours could be edited so that you can make out the words more.

Digipak Cover

Here is a closer look at my digipak front cover, its very basic and yet it looks very effective as the name of the digipak fits in with the background which is a starry night.

The font used is in the style of an Americans Letterman's jacket type And i have also used a low opacity so that you can see the stars through the text.

There are some points that could be improved, as the background is dark, it can be rather hard to see the text on the cover.

DigiPak Draft

Because of changes to the project, I have had to redo the digipak. Which looks like this so far...

 This is the actual layout of the digipak so therefore you can see the front cover, the rear-which is the tracklist and the disk-that still needs editing. As this is just a rough draft.