Copyright letter to record company

 

 

Dear Go Discs records,

We are a group of A Level students working on an A Level project for a qualification in Media Studies. We are writing to request permission to use the following track as part of this project:

The La’s- “There She Goes”

With your permission the track would be used as the accompaniment to a short form video that is made purely for assessment purposes and will have no commercial usage. The video will be viewed only by members of the school community and the assessor of the examination board.

The artist and the copyright holder will of course be fully recognised in the pre-production and evaluation material that accompanies the project. We can also include a full copyright notice if required both in the planning material and on the video itself.

Kind regards,

Storyboard

Rough Cut

Rough Cut Audience Evaluation

 After displaying our initial rough cut to a few impartial students at our school, we weren't surprised at the honest feedback we received. The general consensus agreed with us in that our idea has the unique element of the sweded scenes. If edited correctly this could make our music video stand out as one of the better ones. They also thought that we managed to capture some great performance shots and that this should be shown more in our final piece as it strengthens the quality of the video. Despite in my personal rough cut evaluation I spoke about the fact that one of the issues that we found ourselves having was the poor shot management and how the top of the set appeared in certain parts. Having said this, I think we overcame this issue very well and chose shots effectively to hide this and we noted the fact that they didn't notice it, this showed us that our editing skills had been successful as this had been our goal.

 One suggestion that came up a few times was to include more shots from the performance scenes as these looked very professional and suited the image that we were looking for. Also as it was a rough cut, we had not completed editing in all the real movie scenes to duplicate the sweded scenes that we created. The encouraging this about this was that we knew this before showing it to them and this was our next step in our development. The fact that they thought the exact same techniques would enhance our final piece meant we knew we were doing the right thing.

Overall, according to Stuart Hall's encoding-decoding model, I would say our rough cut was partially preferred but partly negotiated, henceforth, the feedback was positive. We received no negative feedback on what we presented, but the only reason why I would say it was negotiated was due to the positive criticism and advice we were given to enhance our piece. However they all liked it and didn't think there was too much work that needed to be done.

Evaluation of Rough Cut

As a group we were all impressed when reviewing the footage we managed to gather on our shoot day. We thought especially the performance section was good. Having said this, along with the strengths, it was inevitable that there were going to be certain things that we would change if we were to re-do the task. Also we knew there would be a few problems which would need addressing. One example of this was that in some of the performance scenes, there are sections where the top of the set is visible. This problem cannot be seen in the final product as it will appear unprofessional and poorly done. Our way of solving this problem was to choose other shots of the same section of the song, this maintains fluidity in the music video and the song but avoids this poor effect. Another problem that we had was mistimed lip sinking which will require some editing to make sure the performance scenes look realistic.

As we were very late to have our shoot day compared to the other groups, we have had less time to edit so far. Therefore a lot of work is still to be done, despite our efficient and speedy progress. This means that we haven't began editing the sweded scenes which is the part that we were most worried about editing as we used a green screen. This will be difficult as it is our task to make the scenes look poor and so we will have to edit it in a way that represents this. I think we helped ourselves out with this though by filming it handheld rather than using a stand. This will already make it look unprofessional and puts us in good stead for achieving the effects we want from the green screen.  

Evaluation of Shoot day

As we had our Shoot day on Thursday 14th November, we decided that Monday the 11th was the day where we would make sure all the props were ready for Thursday. We watched the scenes in which we would be recreating to make sure that we had everything needed. Having 3 days between the prop check and the shoot day meant we had time to order anything that we were missing on Amazon to avoid looking unprofessional and lacking in props.

On Wednesday the 13th, the day before our shoot day, we got everything ready and prepared for the following day. This including putting the props in a specific order to ensure that everything would be accessible when we needed it the following day, this was an attempt to speed things up and avoid delays of searching for props. We also had to design the set which was in a rectangular shape which would be to represent the 'student bedsit' look which we were aiming for. This would either be filled with the performance scene, eg; drum set, guitars etc or the narrative scene, including TV, sofa, and fridge.

On the morning of the shoot, I felt we were as prepared as we possibly could have been considering the work and organisation which had been applied beforehand. Before shooting we had the responsibility of ensuring all our actors were comfortable with their roles and as prepared as they possibly could be in terms of costume, knowing the lyrics and cords, etc.

I think we managed to convey the perfect image for the scene we were trying to create. We decorated the set with a sofa, a TV, numerous amounts of posters and a fridge. This would to give the view the impression we were in a 'student bedsit' environment. The posters were also representative of the potential interests of the fake characters we were trying to create. Examples of the posters include; Pulp Fiction, Nirvana, Trainspotting and Pink Floyd.

I thought that as a group, we worked tremendously well as a group and shared and divided the roles without any disputes or disagreements. The roles involved filming, playback, camera focus and measuring distances and prop work. I believe we maintained a good balance between exploiting our strengths but at the same time ensuring that everyone was able to get involved in every aspect of the task.

Before the shoot day I had never really seen filming as one of my strengths and was quite nervous that I would struggle to capture worthwhile footage on the day. Despite this, I decided to get as involved as I could in the filming and I believe I managed to exceed expectations and I have developed a confidence in which never existed before.

The only problem that we encountered on the day of the shoot was a missing prop. We did not have a pizza outfit for our actress (Alice) to wear. At the beginning of the day this was a worry but we then decided that what she was wearing would look realistic if she wore a cap, especially considering we had remembered the Pizza delivery bag and the pizza boxes themselves. After previewing what it would look like, we came to the conclusion that this would definitely suffice and it actually looked quite believable.

Personally, I think the performance part of the shoot which was done in the morning was without the doubt the most impressive that we did throughout the day. Not only were the actors, to their credit, incredibly well prepared, but I also believe our set was exceptional and we managed to get some extremely good camera angles, allowing us to edit the footage effectively as we decided that having the most angles possible would enable to fulfil our editing capabilities and allow us to make the final piece appear very professional.

As I have mentioned, I am elated with the way in which the shoot was conducted. However the sweded scenes will require a lot of editing. It was a difficult balance to perfect ensuring that we purposefully make the scene look like it's meant to look unprofessional but at the same time we couldn't make it look like we were just filming it poorly unintentionally. Having said this I am not concerned as I believe within our group we have the capabilities to edit it effectively.

I thought as a group, the team chemistry was excellent as we got on very well. This included pre-production and during the day. This was fundamental to the success of our shoot and final production considering the vast quantity of props in which we needed. This meant we had to delegate separate roles and responsibilities. Despite we lacked the pizza outfit, this was a minute problem bearing in mind what could have potentially gone wrong considering our huge prop list.

Making our website and artwork before our shoot was definitely a bit of a gamble considering much could change on the day if there are certain things we could add to their image which we hadn't thought of. I thought we stuck to the image of the website and artwork fairly well but possibly the idea of them being working class was only developed on the day in the 'student bedsit'. This could possibly mean slight alterations to the website could be productive.

Evaluation of Website

 Making a website for Crystal Moon (our imaginary band) was really effective for bringing the band to life and making it much more like a realistic band using another platform of social media to market and promote the band. The website includes, a giftshop, background information about the band and tour dates for the forthcoming year. We decided that these things should be included because we looked at the websites of other bands and these were common inclusions and so we decided to do the same to make us fit in amongst the likes of Oasis, Kasabian and Blur.

 I think the layout of the website is very impressive and makes us look like a professional group of producers. The design is not only attractive but is also very simple and easy to understand which is key for websites, it is very 'user-friendly'. I also think the content is good and realistic. Within our group we delegated separate roles to prepare the website and I was asked to complete the Tour dates. Rather than just writing down the cities and the dates, I researched into the capacities of arenas, found ones that our imaginary band could realistically fill out and chose those.

We are going on 3 tours, one to Europe, one to North America and One to the Uk and every venue used on the website is a real venue which is used for music. I thought this attention for detail may give us an edge over other groups as it makes it much more realistic.

Despite the positives, I think we were restricted with the website creator that we used as it only allowed us to use 4 pages whereas another website may allow more and we could have delved into further detail about a few things to help make the band more convincing as obviously a famous band would not have these website restrictions. Overall I think we adjusted and dealt with these limitations well though and produced a good final website.

Importance of Website

The official website is key to the band, because no matter how organic and talented a band is, they still need to market themselves and make the public want to invest in them, through their music such as tickets, CD's and online downloads or merchandise such as T shirts and mugs. Advertising is crucial to any product, and any band is a product that depends on sales to survive. Despite many bands have the image of only performing to make music, they all want to sell as many copies as possible to gain revenue.

Links to examples of Website influences

http://www.the-las.com/forums/

http://www.themaccabees.co.uk/

https://thedoors.com/

http://www.tomodell.com/uk/home

http://www.blur.co.uk/

http://www.oasisinet.com/

http://www.thesmiths.cat/

Explanation for album cover choices

All 4 of these choices are all British bands and all considered to be quite indie. This was a large influence on our choice because the artist of the original song 'The La's' were also British and Indie. We had to make sure we made Crystal Moon look like a talented, organic band such as these, we did not want them to look like a media hungry band and it was important that they came across as a band who were driven by producing good music rather than hits on Youtube and money. The appearance of an album cover is absolutely fundamental for any band and it can define them and give them an image even before the music is played. 'Never judge a book by its cover' is very relevant here as it's common knowledge that we all do it subconsciously.

Examples of Album cover influences

Screen test evaluation

The screen test was a successful afternoon as it was the first time our ideas and storyboards were brought to life. Using the real actors who will be in the final product was very helpful as we learnt more about their abilities and confidence in front of camera. It was only useful for the performance part of the video however as the other parts are not going to be with the instruments and with the same set. It also was a warning to whether or not we needed any extra props and it gave us an opportunity to see how well the actors could gel together and gave us a chance to take a few pictures of them in different parts of the scenes.

Animatic

Evaluation of our Animatic

The role of storyboarding and animatics are absolutely fundamental to video in the pre-production process. They do not only allow the producers of the video to have a clearer and more vivid image of what the video will look like. But also allows them to see where any potential holes are and gives them the opportunity to fill the gaps and judge how long each shot should be.



Within our group of 4, we each delegated 12 shots to draw which would make up our complete music video. Once we drew them and a few corrections were made, we had a full story board. Separating the responsibilty was definitely a good idea as it made the job very quick and easy. It also gave all 4 members of the group an opportunity to excel in something that may or may not be our talent. Especially in my case where art is not my strong point, I learnt that being artistically develped was not a necessity to complete storyboards.

After we had our complete 44 images drawn out, we began the animating process. This involved videoing each image for 10 seconds and putting them all together. Henceforth creating an amimated affect.

The positive features of an animatic are that it puts into perspective how long each shot will be and can also imform the producers whether there are not enough slides or whether there are too many. This makes the animatic a very useful stage in terms of editing because it creates a platform and makes it look real for the first time.

One negative feature of animatics is that is is all still shot. This means it disregards any movement throughout the scene. Despite making it easier to judge, it is still hard when you cannot see the real actors in motion.

Despitite some positive feedback, it must be said that there was a lot of constructive criticism from our teachers and our classmates. A common issue that people had about our animatic was that they were unable to follow the story line and also the rhythm of the music didn't quite match up with the transitions. The good thing about this is that it is very easily adjustable.

The constuctive criticism has allowed us to progress massively as a group and make small alterations to what we presented that day. We have been more professional and detailed with our editing which will make our actual video more similar to the real music videos that we now see on Youtube and MTV.

Set Design

Cast Photos

Props

Clips were using for music video

Emily Wyatt

Emily Wyatt is the commissioning editor of Polydor Records. It was interesting to see her view on the use of music video to promote an artist. One of the key points mentioned by Emily was the how the focus on the videos have moved from television such as MTV or VH1 to the online market through companies like VEVO and VIMEO. Some of the artists that Emily and Polydor have worked with include: Ellie Goulding, The 1975, James Blake and The Maccabees. The distribution onto Youtube also effected the radio playlists, the view count gives the radio station something to base the popularity of the music.

As Emily is not the one who chooses the budget for the films, this means she has to make decisions once the budget has been made. An example of this is when it is a well known artist she is more likely to receive a larger budget and can indulge in a more well known director and a more impressive set. The smaller artists is much more of a challenge though as she will have to choose an unknown director which would always be considered a risk as it is impossible to be certain of their quality.

There She Goes- The La's

Crystal Moon Pitch

Timeline