The song we have chosen to do is 'Bom Bom' by Sam and the Womp, the song was released in the United Kindom on 19th August 2012, and the first week of septemeber of that year, the song hit number-one on the UK's single charts with 107,461 copies sold in its first week. Sam nd the Womp are a British pop group that fromed in september 2009, consisting of trumpeter Sam Richie, and Dutch-born singer Bloem de Wilde de Ligny but is better known as 'Bloom'.

Here is a lyric analysis of the song.

Music Video Synopsis

Song title: "Bom Bom"

Artist: Sam and the Womp

First Verse:

The music video will start with introducing the different characters that we will have in the film, we will have several characters ranging from younger people to older all of different styles. The whole theme of our music video will be following the unconventional style that the lyrics portray not really making sense or going with a normal narrative, going down the absurd/surrealist route. " I'm the cat with the bass and drum" This is the first line of the song and this is where we introduce the main character, this person will continue to return in the song, rather than be shown once.

Chorus:

The whole theme of our music video will be following the unconventional style that the lyrics portray not really making sense or going with a normal narrative, going down the absurd/surrealist route. 

It will take place in rooms with white walls and backgrounds, an idea we have is using a white sheet, and covering it in different patterns, and weird props and to have people dancing in front of them. during the video the camera will stay stationary, but the camera itself will change, for example using a Go Pro for a 'fish eye' effect, and using different lenses to change the focal points. " I'm so cool and I'm so groovy when I go bom, bom, bom". This is the main chorus lyric, its short and snappy this chorus does not fit the conventional chorus, most songs have at least five lines. 

Second Verse:

The second verse will be very similar to the first, but we will be changing locations and backgrounds, for example the first verse is against a white background, and a white sheet covered in props. For the second verse, we will be using garages and open fields. 

Chorus:

The chorus will be the same as the first, using the fish eye lens to create a weird mood and using different lenses to change the focal points, for this chorus the props will be used more to create random dance moves. The chorus is repeated again at the end so the last chorus, will be slightly different only focusing on the main characters and cutting from different locations and backgrounds.

Pre- Production Paperwork 

H. Music Videos

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

In this essay I will be explaining the styles, conventions and techniques in a music video for example in concert videos, narrative and interpretive and surrealist. 

In-concert and 'as live' footage.

Avril Lavigne's music video Sk8er Boi uses 'as live' footage. During the video she is followed around by fans, and halfway through the video Avril Lavigne is performing her song on top of a car in the middle of the street, with a crowd of people surrounding her, this is done for the music video rather than it being an in-concert performance. 

In-concert videos are slightly different, the main focus of the video is the live performance, a video that shows this is from Guns N' Roses and the song is called Paradise City. In this video the main focus is the band performing live at a concert and is cut with backstage footage. Although this video has different scenes that are not in concert ninety percent of the video is in concert footage. 



Narrative and interpretive is a main convention for most music videos, some videos of this sort use the lyrics of the song to determine the narration. Narrative videos have a story for the audience to follow some videos that use this include Micheal Jackson Thriller, My Chemical Romance Ghost Of You and David Bowie The Stars.

One of the examples I found is Sam Smith's Im Not The Only One, this music video has a story between a man and a female that were together, but he chose somebody else, the music video uses the song lyrics to create the video one of the lines in the song is 'Denying every tear' as this lyric is said, the video shows the young female crying and wiping her tears.



Surrealist and absurdist, are unconventional and bare little relationship with the lyrics, these videos are somewhat confusing, and catch the eye of the audience. 



Coldplay's song Up&Up, this music video uses surrealist and absurdist videography. One clip from the music video has a bath tub, filled with water and has boats and ships on it, this is not a normal thing, but looks very realistic.  The video catches the audiences eye, and makes them want to see more. 

Impressionist music videos capture the emotional tone of the music, this makes the music video more artistic. Its how the world makes the artist feel.  Soft lighting,flowing and intermingling colours are very common in impressionist music videos.

An example I found of this is by Beastie Boys. The song is called Shadrach, and the video is pastel paint like drawings of the band performing at a concert, with cut aways of animals. The video is very colourful and artistic, and it really describes how the artist is feeling.


Inter-textual: Parody and Synergy.
Parody music videos pokes fun at the original subject matter, this gets the attention of the audience as the video is deemed funny. Parody's use the original track but change the lyrics of the song. Here is an example I found. 



This video has the same structure as the original track, but the lyrics are changed to make the video more comical, the outfits are also very similar, keeping with the structure of the original Bad Blood music video. 

Animation (stop motion, digital) 


Animation is using the technique of photographing drains or models to create an illusion of movement in a film sequence, the video below is from the Killers, the beginning of the video is live action, the first shot is a drone tracking shot over sand and hills, that then cuts to a trailor, then following into the trailer there is a photo of young ballerina, the next shot turns into animation the ballerina comes to life. The ballerina is the younger version of his girlfriend, during the animation we meet a young man, this is a younger version of the old man we meet at the beginning of the music video. The video cuts between animation and live action, the transition between the two is extremely neat, in one shot the animated character is looking out of the trailer window, and the next shot is the live action man looking out the window reminiscing of his younger.
Lip-sync - Miming and playback

Some artists may need to lip-sync during the production of the music video, this could be if the music video is being slowed down or the video is faster than the music track, this helps to keep the song normal paced and just change the footage, as if the audio gets changed it will either be really deep or really high pitched.

An example I found of an artist lip-syncing was Coldplay The Scientist. This video was shot backwards, and also at a slower pace to what the original song was, The artist had to learn the song backwards so that it would fit with the visuals. 



Editing

There are many different techniques used within editing a music music, editing is mainly used to create interesting movements and weird transition effects. A good example of this is The White Stripes- Hardest Button To Button, this shows cutting to the beat, where every drum beat in the song is cut with the drummer hitting a his drum. 

Post- Production effects 

This refers to the visual effects that are used in the video,  using different visual effects attract different audiences, the effects could be cutting edge and attract a younger audience. 

An example I found of post-production effects was Eminem ft. Rihanna Love the Way you Lie. This video used visual effects of flames, this connects with the lyrics of the song, for example one lyric says ' just gunna stand there and watch me burn' and later in the song the house behind Rihanna is on fire, this is all done with visual effects. 



Particular Effect: Split Screen

 As mentioned above their are certain effects in music videos, one of the main effects being 'Split Screen', This is where multiple shots or footage are placed over the same screen, but with a different scene takes place on the other side of the screen. This can be done to duplicate an artist. 

An example I found of this is After Ever After - Disney Parody by Paint. This uses four way split screen, each screen being his face but the background is a different colour in each alongside his shirt. 



This video also shows a good example of Chroma Key, this is where the artist or bad shoot in front of a green screen, then in post the green screen will be changed to a certain colour or background or something of the editors choice. 

Camera angles, shots and movements

Camera shots are used in creating a unique visual music video that stands out from the basic music video, this can be used either with different camera angles such as canted angles, or camera movements such as a tilt or a pan, or having the music video shot with one take. A good example of this is Smash Mouth - 'All Star'.

The video offers random camera angles to create a weird but unique video.

Mise-En-Scene

Mise-en-scene is the french word for 'things within the scene', this includes props, lighting,settings, costumes etc. The objects will give the scene authenticating and even establishing the location or time period of the video.

A good example of mise-en-scene in a music video is is Panic! At the Disco's, 'I write sins not tragedies'. The video uses weird props and costumes to create the circus like wedding, the set design is also a big part of the music video, you understand the era of the music video through the set design and costumes. 

H. Music Videos

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

F. Corporate Video Production

Wednesday, March 08, 2017

F. Corporate Video Production

Wednesday, March 08, 2017

1.  Job roles within the commissioning process.

A commissioning editor is somebody who scouts out new writers, scripts and other media based things. They can buy peoples work and get it to the publishing stage. This type of job involves a lot of research, they will be with the production team from start to finish. 

Producers can deal with aspects of the production that the director doesn't deal with. The producers help transfer the original story into a film. The producers have a very important role when dealing with legal issues, cast and crew and even some budgeting. Once a script is brought the producer can change aspects of the script or even the whole idea completely, this starts to annoy script writers, because their original idea is no longer a thing. An example of a producer is Micheal G Wilson (Casino Royale, Skyfall, For Your Eyes Only).

The director initially turns the story into video and audio, the director is also one of the most important people on set, he is in charge of the producer, DOP and all actors on set. They can help the director of photography direct certain shots that he has in mind after reading the script. A famous director is Alfred Hitchcock, he is a English film director he has made movies such as Psycho, The birds and Vertigo. 

A script editor will evaluate screenplays and give different perspectives, they also assess the relationship between between screenwriters and producers, they present all scripts to the team, at development meetings to make sure all parties agree with the same vision for the project. Script editors should also negotiate their contracts before they start their work. Most script editors are freelance. 

2. Commissioning bodies.

Commissioning bodies are used when somebody is trying to sell a their product to a production company.

A lot of writers use agents to help them find potential jobs, the way it works is that a production company will contact an agency to see if the agents client will be interested in writing a script. Most big time screen writers will use an agent but some independent screen writers will not due to costs. 

Competition is also a way of finding new writers, BBC writers room is an example of an organisation who uses competition.  The competition could have certain requirements for example the length of the writing or even the genre. 

Some organisations help the screenwriter's work with actual writers, this is very useful as instead of buying screenplays they can help develop the idea and the structure.

Independent directors mainly produce their own screenplays, this saves them a lot in cost, small production company's will have the same small people doing different roles to save on costs.

Most independent films that are feature length professional films are released by independent production companies, some production companies include; Film4 productions and Lions Gate Films. 

Warner Brother, Disney and Paramount these are companies that release the finished product, they make their money of the box office revenue and the sale of the film. 

3. The role of the writer throughout production.

After a project has been given the green light, it enters the pre-production stage, first the Writer will be commissioned to make the screenplay, the writer will then be given set guidelines from the idea or true story or comic books. 

Script editing is completed by the script editor.  The screenwriter will be given feedback on how they can improve the script. Instead of pointing out what is wrong with the script, the script editor will sit down with the screenwriter to help change and improve the script. 

Before the production process begins the script is made easier for shooting, the script becomes a shooting script. This is when page numbers and scene headings are added. If things need to be changed whilst in production then these notes can be logged and the new changes will be sent to all the cast and crew. 

Directors and producers have the final say of the outcome of the script, this somewhat ruins the writing process for a screenwriter, they have worked on a script for so long for some of their script to be changed, screenwriters usually dislike the changes and do not want to have their names mentioned. 

Page lock-down is when changed need to be made to the script, the pages will be coded and sent to the cast and crew as separate pages rather than sending the whole script again. The pages that have been changed they are given codes, If the the script goes on to say page 50 and the changes have been made on page 22, the codes for the changed page will be 22a rather than 23 as the page after may not be changed. 

4. Working as a writer

Agent representation is very important when working as a writer, some production companies will not take scripts unless they have been sent from an agent. Agent representations will ask for a piece of work from the writer before making an appointment with them, this is to make sure they really enjoy your work. The company will only take people who approach them the right way, they prefer if you do not constantly keep contacting to see if they have received you work, because they will get back to you in due course. A good example of would be 'The Agency' (In London). They are proud to represent their writers, they represent all manners of writers and directors, from working in drama to working in major Hollywood films. 

Optioning is when a screenplay is taken by either an individual or a company for a fixed cost for a fixed amount of time, in that time the script is with the individual or company the screenwriter cannot sell the screenplay to anybody else, this offers exclusivity to the company that is paying for the screenplay. In that the the individual or company can change the script to meet certain needs if they wish to. 

Professional representation for screenwriters helps when managing your career, it helps the screenwriter choose and develop screenplays for potential job roles, Alan Brodie is a literary agency whose clients are writers/ directors. They work to help new writers who will then become the voices of the next generation.

Time management is different for every writer, some writers will work late evening till early hours of the morning, whereas some will write in the morning till mid afternoon. Writers have to keep a balance when meeting deadlines as they also have to meet new and existing clients to keep more work coming in. A lot of screenwriters jump from script to script, to stop getting distracted. 

All writers have legal and ethical considerations to reflect on, one of the main considerations is copyright. This is a issue in the media industry, copyright prevents other writers from stealing or copying other writers work, this comes under plagiarism and could possibly result in the artist being sued. 

Another legal and ethical issue is bias within the media industry, writers need to make sure they are not bias, especially when associating things with moral and political views. Libel laws can also come under copyright as you would need to make sure the product doesn't offend anybody.

A watershed is the time when something is broadcasted, for example if shows have sexual content there is a law that states nothing can be shown of that nature before 9pm. This would then also meet Ofcoms guidelines.

Censorship is a vital thing when considering broadcasting your project for a screenwriter. The writer will have to take this into consideration when discussing their target audience and the rating they are aiming for. 

G. Assignment 6 - Screenplays

Saturday, February 25, 2017

This essay will be an analysis and break down of the purpose of music videos.  Including the emergence of music videos, the promotion of artists and the extension of various media outlets. The first form of music video was introduced in 1941, by the Panoram Soundie which is a jukebox that played short music video clips along with music, this hit clubs and bars around in the USA. Shortly after 1941 in 1962 British television invents a new form of music television with shows like Top of The Pops, Ready! Steady! Go! and Oh,boy  as artists and bands become huge hits. Twenty years later, Micheal Jackson's short film Thriller  released this really changed the concept of music videos especially after The making of Thriller  was released it became one of the best selling VHS to date.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyclqo_AV2M&list=PLmo4pBukfRoN8SB5RKvfiY9CTl9pI_IFc 

The Beatles song 'We Can Work It Out' helps promote the band. The music video has the bands name on the skin of the drum kit, As they perform the song they are stood next to the drum kit this is promoting them as an artist, and as a brand. The drum skin logo, helps promote the artist, you may not know who the artist or band are, seeing the logo in the video will help the band when new audience's listen to their music.

Directors can also be promoted through a music video. Tame Impala's song 'Feel Like We're Only Going Backwards' is directed by Joe Pelling and Becky solan. Both of these directors are previously known for a web series called 'Don't Hug Me I'm Scared'  The visuals for both the music video they directed and the web series give a strange and unusual thought, the audience like that both videos are similar showing the directors true work.  

This music video by Sia uses actor Shia LaBeouf and young dancer Maddie Ziegler. Most of Sia's songs are represented with dancer Maddie Ziegler expressing some type of emotion, this is very consistent when people see this young girl, they think of Sia's music and vise versa, this is a good producing strategy it promotes other artists as well as the singer. Sia never stars in her own music video, this is because she does not like her own appearance, her producers and directors of each music video have used this to her advantage by adding celebrity dancers and actors. 

Music videos are also made for an extension of income for the artist and the record label. When each song is played the artist and label will receive payments and royalties for the use of their song.  YouTube is a popular media outlet to get their songs heard. YouTube videos can then be shared through twitter and Facebook, this making it slightly harder to track each views on the video therefore making the income harder for artists and record labels.

This leads on to extension of media outlets, as mentioned above, YouTube is one of the most popular media outlets for music videos, but the videos on there can be shared with other social media outlets such as face book and twitter, giving the audience more variety to watch the artists content. Other than YouTube and social media outlets, Television is a popular source of watching music videos, for example Kerrang, MTV and starz. MTV launched in 1981 and started broadcasting music videos daily.  MTV went on to continue with music videos, but there main focus is reality TV, such as MTV Cribs. 

Synergy in media related to the promotion and selling of a product. Walt Disney is the most famous, He gave other companies the rights to use Mickey mouse in other products. Mickey mouse is now seen everywhere, on television adverts, on clothing and even on cereal. 
An example of this is Captain America. The logo of Captain America is owned by marvel. But consumers can buy almost anything with the logo on it. Such as clothing, cereal and even stationary. This helps both companies as they both make a good profit and it helps promote the film. 

I personally think that music videos are popular because they show the artist, or they show other celebrities. This gives the audience a feel of how the character dresses, and copy if they wish to do so.  This also helps clothing brands as the clothing the singer wears could become popular. 

H. Music Videos

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Single Camera Techniques 

In this essay I will be discussing the key terms of single camera techniques used in film and TV production, I will be defining the key advantages and disadvantages of each term, and the difference between single camera and multi-camera production.

Camera is the first key term, the camera acts as the tool, it adds realism and to creates a more intimate feel. Single camera production only uses one camera, this helps get the audience into the action rather than seeing it from different cameras, they get to follow the one single camera around. This also allows the director to become creative with angles and shots. The intimate feel makes the footage more delightful for the audience it will draw them in to the story. They can only see what that camera is seeing rather than jumping from second camera in editing, they have to wait to see what comes next.

Using a single camera means filming the same scene over and over, so the filmmaker can get the scene from different angles, this makes it looks like there could be a second camera but its just the scene re-acted over again in the exact same way. Using a single camera gives the director more control the shots can be set up individually and this allows you to shoot almost anywhere as space for other cameras would not be an issue. This is a great advantage, it allows the director to think of more locations and has more room for his shots.

The obvious disadvantage is that shots will have to be repeated for different angles, this can be very time consuming for the director and the actors involved in the production, this is why multi-camera production can be handy, it allows the scene to be shot from different angles saving time when re-doing shots. Only using one camera can not only be time consuming but in theory cost more, as if its film it will cost to develop and for the film reel.

Lighting is the second key term I am going to talk about, this term Is very important, it makes the scene look and feel realistic, although the camera can do that, with out the correct lighting the shots will look bland. In a single camera production the lighting is much easier to control, the lighting can be adjusted to the shot type or angle, where as the multi-camera would have the lights adjusted to the cameras this making the production difficult and the scene will have less space.

Using a reflector can help in the production is low budget, the can allow for some light, natural or artificial reflect towards the object or subject used, this will develop the realism of the mood. This can also make shots look similar. This is handy when you are filming in a different location but you want the lighting to be the same.

News programmes use a great amount of lighting to perfect their shots, they will do this by using three-point lighting this is where everything that is dark on the object or subject is covered in a triangle shape, the three points include back light, key light and fill light.

Lighting can also be used to dim the mood, for example in a horror, the camera could be facing the subject and to the left is the key light and to the top right of the subject is a reflector this is a basic example of low key lighting.

In a multi-camera production, maintaining the light can be quite difficult as there are many cameras involved not just one, this is one of the main disadvantages of multi-camera and good disadvantage for single camera.

Sound is the third key term I will be talking about for single camera techniques, sound can range from diegetic to non-diegetic. In single camera productions, sound can be easily developed, it is also a lot cheaper using sound in a single camera than multi-camera. This links back with the camera technique at the start of this essay, due to having only one camera, shots will have to be repeated this means that you have several attempts of getting the perfect sound, especially if the sound is dialogue.

The main way to shoot dialogue on a single camera production is through a shot gun mic, The microphones are designed to collect clear audio from far distances as well as any audio around the mic. The shot gun mic, can either be attached to the camera or on a boom pole, this will increase the distance of sound collected, shot gun mics from a boom pole are mainly used in TV programmes like, EastEnders, Coronation Street and Hollyoaks.  

In most TV and film productions the sound may not even come from the footage recorded on the camera, it will be recorded in post, or may be used from another take if the shot had to be repeated.

Editing is the fourth single camera technique I will be explaining, Post production is important for any production whether its single camera or multi-camera. This proceed can take a long time depending on how much footage there is to look through.

One of the main advantages of editing on a multi-camera production is that is can be cheaper as it takes far less time to film, giving more time for post production. In single camera productions most scenes are filmed together, this could be in a specific location or if similar cast members are needed. This can be an advantage in the editing stage as finding the clips will be easier as they will be in order of the scenes you shot them in.

Shot logs come in handy when editing lots of footage as you can work out which takes were successful and which ones could be problematic. A shot log is a list of shots captured and a description of each short according to how well the shot worked out.

Multi-camera productions such as Britain's got talent the cameras can be switched through a vision mixer, this is live editing, moving from one camera to another. The cannot be done with a single camera production and can restrict some productions from shooting live.

The fifth term I will be talking about is single camera genres and formats, and why do certain genres lend themselves to either single camera or multi-camera productions.  There are many genres within Film and TV that single camera productions can fit into, but some will not work as they need multi-camera to make the production look realistic.

Period Drama sometimes known as costume drama, is set in a specific era in the past. This type of production can be very costly, as you are going back in time, so costumes, set and props will all need to be taken into consideration and lighting will also need to be discussed. This can be tricky to do with a Period Drama, but it can be done scenes will have to be filmed repeatedly to get different angles, and choice of location will be easier as only one camera will need to be positioned.

Crime is the second genre that can be associated with single camera productions. Crime often uses low key lighting as mention above. This is simply done by using a reflector which is often a lot cheaper than buying more lighting equipment. TV programmes such as Silent Witness and CSI are single camera productions, just moving one camera round and repeating the scenes.

Horror is the third genre, single camera productions are very useful in horrors  as it creates the realistic feeling, the audience get scared if something seems too real, that they are there with the actors, single camera in horror does this. Halloween (1978) uses a lot of P.O.V shots this creates suspense, This makes it look like the killer is hidden and makes the footage shaky, Low key lighting is also used in horror movies, although it is cheap it is very effective.

Comedy is another genre that links with both single camera and multi-camera productions. Scrubs TV programme is filmed using single camera techniques but shows like Friends is multi-camera and filmed in front of a live studio audience.  Scrubs is set on real locations and will only really require a single camera, this broadens the choice for locations.

Soap operas are mainly filmed using multi-camera techniques this is due to the rate in which the show needs to be directed and produced. Although some soap operas can be shot using single camera techniques, but this is a lot harder to pull off. Brookside was a UK single camera soap this used real locations.

Series is a run of episodes that will eventually end. A good example for this is Silent Witness, this is a series that runs once a year, for four weeks. The programme has part one on a Monday and part two on a Tuesday and the following week will be a completely different plot. You will be presented with a different crime, and different characters but will stick with the main four characters that have been introduced from the start. Silent Witness is a single camera production.

Serial is a TV programme that runs continuous, an good example of this is a soap, for example EastEnders, Coronation Street and Hollyoaks. They do not have series finales. Coronation Street is the longest running British serial, they mainly use multi-cameras due to how quick they have to be produced as some run every night, Hollyoaks runs every night Monday to Friday.

 Single Drama, uses one self-contained story, its told in a one off episode, but some can run over two or three parts, depending on the length of the TV programme.

With Multi-camera techniques the actors can seem stale, as they have not had much practice adapting their character, where as a single camera, the actor will have to go over each scene over and over so the director can get shots from different angles this helps improve the actor getting into character.

The filming process takes less time when filming multi-camera as there are more cameras to do different angles so it takes longer time if using just a single camera.

Continuity errors can be come common when shooting single camera as the camera has to be moved around where as in multi-camera the camera's can be set up so that continuity mistakes cannot be made.

With single camera shots the lighting as mentioned above can be controlled more, it is more intimate as there is just one single camera, where as in a multi-camera production there are many lights and this will be costly and more hassle.

I. Single Camera Production

Wednesday, February 22, 2017