feedback on blog so far

Some good detail on this blog although you all need to revisit your music video analysis as this is incomplete and rather sparse. I am not getting a sense of progression as you are not chronicling decisions and discussions. I need to see more consideration of narrative, props, costume, locations. At the moment the blog is level 3.

JCutts- Mood Board

JCutts - Technical Analysis

• The opening second is a extreme close up of the lead singer's hands playing a piano.
• This is followed by a 4 second close up of the lead singers face. He is lip syncing into a micro phone and gives the audience plenty of time to register he is the lead singer.
• The skips straight to a special effects shot of the lead jumping through glass in slow motion.
• As the pace of music increases so does the cutting rate , it skips for a short 1 second clip of the extreme close up we saw in the opening second.
• Followed by a longer 4 second clip of the leader singer in his performance shot we saw previously. This is a great way to sell the band, through the lead singer.
• We then see a second and a half shot of the female charecter breaking through glass in slow motion before it swiftly skipping to another 2 second XCU of his hands playing the piano.
• The next shot is a low angle long shot of the female charecter which last for 2 seconds, this is shot from the side , this skips straight to a head on long shot which has been slowed down very slightly , this lasts 3 seconds.
• After this we see the slow motion breaking glass shot again for a further 3 seconds before a sharp cut to another performance shot by the lead singer, this also lasts 3 seconds.
• There is then a cut back to the long shot of the female charecter walking towards the camera, this cuts to a mid shot , followed by a low angle shot and then back to a mid shot. This last 6 seconds in total.

George - Shot by Shot Technical Analysis

The Track i have chosen to analyse is 'Hero of War' by Rise Against:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DboMAghWcA&ob=av2n

• Opening shot is a Long Shot of lead singer sitting and playing guitar in a playground with swings, rundown look. 0.03s secs.

• Next is a tracking Mid Shot of a soldier with light coming from the background in a dusty building with his gun up, most likely in the Middle East somewhere. 0.03 secs.


• Then Goes back to a Mid Shot of lead singer in same position and location. 0.04 secs.


• Next is a Close Up of the narrative character's head in a dark room with night vision on looking scared and sad. 0.02 secs.

• Then a quick close up of his face again but smiling, some sort of previous happy memory. 0.01 secs.


• Next is a tracking long shot of three soldiers in the dusty building again searching for something, turns into an over the shoulder shot at the end of shot. 0.04 secs.


• Then a Long Shot zoom of a child looking melancholy sitting at a table in one of these Middle Eastern countries. 0.03 secs.


• Next is back to Mid Shot of singer in same place. 0.03 secs.


• After is a Mid Shot zoom of two men one the narrative character, the protaganist, and the other some sort of army recruitment officer where the character is making a pledge in the office. 0.03 secs.

• Then there is a Long Shot in a park or something similar, of another previous memory with a girl most likely his girlfriend lying on him and he seems to be happy. 0.03 secs.


• After goes back to a Mid Shot in night vision of the character topless writhing around on the floor in what looks like grief.

What I learnt from this was that often when a video has a gripping story to it I enjoy it more I think this would be the case with most people especially as The Script often follow this idea so the fans would appreciate it. I also learnt that quite a few locations are a good thing as this offers more interest points for the viewer and will make them watch it again to fully understand whats happening in all these placres especially with relatively fast cuts happening.

Group - Lyrics and Shots

The Script - Walk Away

I don't know why she's with me
I only brought her trouble since the day she met me
If I was her, by now I would have left me
I would have walked away
But now I've broken away
Somehow instead she forgave me
She said a woman's got to do what she's got to do
Even if it means she denied herself the truth
Cause when you're in too deep you wake up when it's too late,
You've fallen in love in the worst way
And if you don't go now then you'll stay
Cause I'll never let you leave, never let you breathe
Cause if you're looking for heaven, baby it sure as hell ain't me

This verse will involve shots that start off the narrative and will most likley include a girl and boy whose actions will loosley ralate to the lyrics which will involve the pratagonist male controlling the girl. likley locations for this scene will be in the kitchen/living room of a house. Furthermore it will cut to and from the lead singer most likley performing in the drama studio of our school. We plan to have the performance shots in black and white with a black backgroud, this would create the effect that the band are performing in a location that had no distinctive features.      

So walk away
[Walk away]
Walk away, oh
Save yourself from the heartache, oh
Go now before it's too late
So walk away
[Walk away]
Walk away, oh
Save yourself from the heartache, oh
Go now before it's too late
But still she stays

This will consist of perfomance shots which will again be set in the drama studio. These performance shots will be cut between CU's of the lead singert and the other band members who are playign their instruments. During the chorus there will be cuts back to the narrative so the feeling that the video is telling a story is not lost.  

She's standing in the heart of darkness
Saying I know you got a soul even though you're heartless
How could any woman in their right mind be so blind,
To find something this safe
Instead of walking with me she should have walked away

She finds color in the darkest places
She finds beauty in the saddest of faces
For such a groovy and headstrong city girl
Could've had the world but she's fallen in love in the worst way
And if you don't go now then you'll stay
Cause I'll never let you leave, never let you breathe
Cause if you're looking for heaven, baby it sure as hell ain't me

These two verses will see the boy and girl meet one another again and make up, this roughly follows the narrative described in the lyrics. These scences are likley to take place in an outdoors location (either rural or urban) and the girl will have dressed up really nice, whereas the man will look like hes has made less of an effort. These verses will also have performance shots edited into them. 

So walk away
[Walk away]
Walk away, oh
Save yourself from the heartache, oh
Go now before it's too late
So walk away
[Walk away]
Walk away, oh
Save yourself from the heartache, oh
Go now before it's too late
But still she stays
[Oh, yeah]
But still she stays
[Oh, yeah]

I don't know why she's with me
I only brought her trouble since the day she met me
If I was her, by now I would have left me
I would have walked away

But you've fallen in love in the worst way
And if you don't go now then you'll stay
Cause I'll never let you leave, never let you breathe
Cause if you're looking for heaven, baby it sure as hell ain't me

So walk away
[Walk away]
Walk away, oh
Save yourself from the heartache, oh
Go now before it's too late
So walk away
[Walk away]
Walk away, oh
Save yourself from the heartache, oh
Go now before it's too late
But still she stays

[Yeah]
But still she stays, eh
I'm saying walk away
Yeah
I'm saying walk away
[Save yourself from the heartache, go now before it's too late]
But still she stays
Still she stays
Yeah, she stays
She stays

Group -The Scripts Advert for New Album

This is The Scripts own advert for their new album. We can use this as inspiration as it give a feel of the image that the band are trying to create.

James - Technical Analysis

This is the technical analysis to the opening of 'The Kooks - Sway'. The video has a very lowfi feel and is shot in black and white. the link to the video is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF2A4i1Itlk&ob=av2n

• The opening shot is an establishing long shot of waves breaking onto a beach, this last for 4 seconds. This helps set the scene and location of the video.
• Then it cuts to a mid shot of a pair of hands making a pyramid out of playing cards on a table. This is a very short shot that only lasts one second.
• There is then a low angle long shot that track the lead singer who is walking on a promenade above some shops. This shot lasts for 4 seconds and the lead singer is not lip-synching.
• It cuts to an extreme close up of a finger dialling a number on an old fashioned phone. The camera is remains still for this shot, which lasts for 4 seconds.
• It then cuts to a long shot of the lead singer still dialling the number and then placing the phone to his ear. This shot lasts for 4 seconds.
• It then cuts to another mid shot of the lead singer but from the other side of his body this time. This lasts 3 seconds with a slow zoom into the character slightly.
• From here the camera simply pans left and we then see the singer on the phone, however this time we are looking at him in a mirror. This is an example of the notion of looking. This shot lasts for one second.
• It then cuts back to the shot with the pair of hands making the pyramid from cards. This time however the shot is slightly further back and there is a ‘handy-cam’ pan to the left. This shot lasts for one second.
• It then cuts to a low angle mid-shot of a band member walking along. This shot lasts for 2 seconds.
• There is then another cut to the same band member still walking, however this time it is a mid/long tracking shot from behind him and we can see that he is walking through a games arcade. This shot lasts for 3 seconds.
• It then cuts back to the lead singer in the mirror making the phone call. There is a slow zoom and a jump cut during this shot which lasts 2 seconds.
• From here it cuts to a low angle close up of the band member walking through the arcade. This shot tracks his movement and there is also a small jump cut, the shot lasts for 3 seconds.      

Doing this technical analysis has helped me realise just how quickly music videos are cut together. During this short thirty-second clip there are 14 cuts. This has made me realise that we will need to shoot all of our scenes from several different angles so that we are able to cut them together, this will make the video more interesting. it also help stress the importance of using a number of different locations because otherwise our video could seem very monotonous and repetitive if we keep cutting back to the same shots.     

Group - To Do List

1. Edit footage from Brighton and give feedback.
2. Continue to annotate lyrics of shots we have thought of as they progress.
3. Decide on the location for out narrative part of the video
4. Decide on location of the band shots and the instruments we will be using
5. Outline the plot for the narritive part of the video
6. Go on a location recce for any possible locations. Possible dates include 2nd October and 6th October.

James - Deconstruction of Music Video

The video that I have chosen to deconstruct is “For the First Time” from The Script’s new album “Science & Faith”. The link for the video is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtCpC8jE_Cs

Institution and Audience

I think that this video will mainly be the subject of focused viewing because The Script is such a well know and liked band and the video is very narrative based. Like all new videos by successful bands however, the video will appear on music channels and so will be the subject of ambient viewing.

I think that the band would have had a significant part in the concept and construction of this music video because they seem an authentic group. The record label would probably have helped with the creative decisions and approved any ideas that the band had but I feel that they would also respect the bands views. The record company would also hire the relevant people to shoot and direct the video.

Genre and Narrative

The music video is both narrative and performance based and follows the general conventions of music videos. One such convention is the close up shots of the band during the performance shots, these are known as ‘meat shots’. The purpose of these is to give a face to the band so that viewers and fans have someone to identify with. The lyrics also have strong links to the visuals of the video. The songs tells a story of a young girl who wants to go back home the visuals mirror this and there is even a scene at the start and end of the video when the song is not playing that create the narrative ion more depth.

This video is an example of illustration. This means that is shows the story of the lyrics and nothing else. If the video were more concept based then it would be an example of disjuncture. I think that this video could be considered art because it is shot in a way that means it is almost a short film. There are many different creative ideas in the video such as overexposed shots and the performance scenes being in black and white.

Media Language

The purpose of this video is to construct a band image and promote the new song and album. Music videos are vital in creating the bands image, if the band is shown to be ‘cool’ then the chances are that they will have more fans and therefore their songs will sell more. The music video also promotes the band and song which will again increase sales. This video has been watched almost 1,500,000 times on YouTube alone meaning that band are gaining exposure and the video is providing social currency.

Several different techniques are used to do this. Camera work is used to get meat shots of the band and to get the authentic ‘grainy’ fell that is achieved in the video. Editing is used to cut all the different lines of action, the performance shoots and narrative shots together into something that is understandable to the audience. 

Representation

The bands star persona is created from the performance shots in this video. These shots are very simple but the lighting and various camera angles used helps to keep them interesting. The performance shots show the band to be very passionate and to be enjoying what they are doing. This feeling is created by the constant use of close ups and meat shots of the band members. A first-person mode of address is also used so that the audience feel that they are connecting to the band when they are listening to them and watching the video. These things add to the meta-narrative and representation of the band by continuing to portray them as authentic and honest musicians. This will help them to sell their records because they will be seen as very respectable people who are able to produce fantastic music. This representation has obviously worked too as their new album 'Science & Faith' debuted at number one in the UK Album Chart.

Young people are represented in different ways within this video. The two characters in the narrative of the video have conflicting views about having moved to New York from Dublin. The man is in his element and is loving being in a different city, the girl however is very homesick and wants to leave. This highlights the differences in young people and shows that every person is different. It also shows the problems and compromises that people have to deal with when they are growing up.

I think this video challenges the dominant ideology that young people are willing to leave home and explore the world without looking back. However the girl in this video shows that this is not true and that young people are often very scared of being independent for the first time. I think the band would want to show this in one of their videos because it probably happened to them when they were younger and just starting to become popular.       

Dyer
Dyers first paradox states that the star must by simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the audience. The lead singer from The Script appears to be ordinary in several of the scenes in this video, an example of this is the performance shots at the start of the video. In these shots the singer seems to be very sad and emotional; this makes him seem to be 'human' and just an ordinary person.

At the same time however the singer is shown to be extraordinary, this is achieved simply in the way lighting and camera techniques have been used effectively. The band performances are in a black space with a spotlight focused directly down on the performers. The use of close ups and slow motion also gives the video a professional feel and shows the star to be extraordinary. This paradox enables the audience to relate to the audience but at the same time be in awe of them.

Dyers second paradox states that the star must be simultaneously present and absent for the audience. This is shown very well in this video by The Script. The star only appears in the performance shots and never in the narrative of the video. This gives the audience an incomplete view of the band and encourages them to consume more of the bands material to build up a better picture of them.

Music Video Analysis-JCutts

I have chosen to use a song is a track of the The Script's Previous album, The Man Who Cant be Moved. The track is called ' Talk you down''.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSlFcvcW550&ob=av2n


Institution and Audience;
How might this video be consumed?
This song was released with a video so therefore would have been consumed through music channels as well as virally. This could be seen as both ambient and focused viewing. Some people may like to listen just for the track and not pay much attention to the video, however the narrative based style, with a direct link to the lyrics at times could be seen to be for a more focused viewing audience.
Institutional context of this video;
It is vital there are lots of 'meat' shots of the lead singer as he is prolific to the band in its entirety. This includes plenty of close ups of the artist , so the music label uses his image as an object to be sold , not just the lead singer of a band.

Genre and Narrative;
Illustration, amplification, or disjuncture?
This video is defiantly narrative with aspects that have a direct link to the lyrics and also music. It has elements of performance which is a good and effect way of getting key shots of your lead singer into the video, if the character is not performed by the lead.
This therefore means this video is illustrative, with a very strong link between not only video and lyrics, but also music . With the cutting rate corresponding to the tempo of the track.
Could this be considered as art ?
I would definitely say this video is commercial as it is trying to sell the band , with plenty of band shots and very much so with the lead singer. This is typical of a postmodern music label or band. However it does have some very interesting shots and effects such as slow motion, sped up shots and a few others that we as a group have all discussed and will consider using in our video.

Media Languages;
What is the message or purpose of the video ?
The message is more of a situation directed to the lyrics, with visual aids to help the audience recognise the songs purpose. However it is not all narrative which leave a little for the viewer to decide or interpret for themselves. I think this vital in a music video of this genre, as it allows the audience to put themselves in the position of the singer/ character.
What Visual Techniques are used to do this and why?
There are a lot of camera movement even on the shots of the lead singer and particularly when it goes into narrative, this could portray the minds of the characters who appear to be confused and distressed. The cutting rate also increases when the music speeds up which also helps you to understand the narrative.
Is there any intertextuality / references to popular culture?
This is certainly a post modern type video , as the band are not only selling themselves through various 'meat shots' but also are trying to allow the audience to position themselves with the band through the situation. The video has been made so although the situation is fairly specific, it has an element of personal interpretation, which could increase the amount of people who could see themselves in the same position as the band.

Representation;
How are the Band/Artist represented?
There are various band shots in the video however a lot is just of the main character who happens to be the lead singer also. The close ups are more of his performance shots, which is what the record company is really trying to sell.
How are different social groups represented?
This particular narrative shows a middle age man and women who have obviously had a break up, It shows him being fairly 'mucho' and with a rebellious side as you see him driving away from the police cars. This could be seen as a slightly arrogant but is all part of the attitude that the record company are planning to sell the artist on.

Dyer's Paradox theory;

• Richard Dyer claims that stars will try and sell themselves, depending on their target audience. For example, the reason a star has a particular reason may not necessarily primarily be about the music. It could be down to things such as postmodernism, sex appeal, rebellion etc.
• Dyer explains that a star is an image not just a star. this image is constructed through a range of materials which is better known as the media.
• Richard Dyer speaks of stars being incoherent and this is based on two paradox's;
• Paradox 1 suggests that a star is ''Ordinary'' but also ''Extraordinary''. This means that as a star on stage they are seen as extraordinary, but in reality they are just normal people, which is why people buy materials such as the newspaper and celebrity magazines.
• Paradox 2 according to Dyer is that the star is ' Absent' but also ' present' from the consumer. This means that the star should be able to be absent from the consumer however they should still be listened to and consumed by the audience. This is made easier by a big absence of a star and then a comeback is hyped by the media.

George - Mood Board 2

Here is my mood board for our new track, which i have tried to improve from the last one:

From this I learnt that often on their album and single covers The Script often like to appear absent and have an image which they feel is good to represent them, furthermore i learnt that The Script like to portray themselves as quite a stylish band and this something we will have to use in our video along with the Digipak.

George - Music Video Analysis

The video i have chosen to deconstruct is The Man Who Can't be Moved by The Script.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16nOViwmSJ4&ob=av2n

Institution and Audience:

1. I think that with a video like this quite a lot of the consumption will be focused viewing becase of the strong narrative the video has. However like all music videos they are used for ambient viewing for example this may be on a chart show on tv in the background as it was quite a success.

2. The role of the record company in this case may be to come up with an idea for the video that would match the artists image and genre. If the band themselves came up with the idea it would be the companies role to find someone to shoot and direct the video.

Genre and Narrative:

1. The characteristics of this video is typical to the genre which involves a strong narrative with performance based shots too. Using Goodwins guidelines you can see the relationship between the visuals and lyrics are that it follows a loose story that the lyrics are telling, futhermore the cutting rate changes at different tempos of the song accordingly. As with many music videos close ups of the lead singer are common throughout, other close ups of the band are also introduced within the performance shots. The only possible reference to looking in this video i think is through the camera of the news broadcaster. As with many of their videos this one is both performance and narrative with both being portrayed an equal amount.

2. This video is an illustrative example because there is a direct relationship with the lyrics and visuals throughout of him sitting in a street and not mooving until his love comes back to him.

3. Some of the techniques involved in the video i think could be conveyed as art, the sped up shots towards the end showing time passing definitely create an artistic feel and the process of making this video and the intial idea and creation thought process are much the same as an artist who would be painting a picture.

Media Language:

1. I think that the purpose of this video would be to back up the lyrics with a clear image of what the song was trying to express which in this case is love and how some people would do crazy things for it. However like all videos it's also used to create an image for the band which would be a typical alternative one usually having a meaning to their songs and convey an image of style and fashion dominant of the time.

2. The shots used at the end i think are particular good at representing the image they are trying to create for the song to show just how long he is there for, for example with the time lapse of the watch. Furthermore close ups of the singer and his facial expressions also do this of concern. As for band image the use of New York city is iconic to say they are successful enough to shoot there and representations of living in New York are considered respectful and 'cool' to a younger generation.

3. The only very vague intertextual reference in this song is the news but not one station in particular. Also the image they have created for themselves can be seen with other bands of similar genre, for example Maroon 5 are similar to the script and dress and portray themselves in a similar fashion.

Representation:

1. The band as said previously being positioned in New York gives them a cooler look and may appeal to more people as something respectful to listen to which helps them to sell. Furthermore the fact their songs have meaning may help to draw in more listeners. I think the fact that they are a band and perform their own music has a timeless effect with people as they do more than just sing other peoples songs.

2. Within this video the different social groups are represented fairly with both male and women police officers pictured as well as reporters. The only negative being the police pushing reporters away. Overall i think that the dominant beliefs and values of society in this video are being challenged to show equality in all.

Dyer:

Dyer talks of how a bands style is constructed from a range of materials, the media language. What they do with these materials is create an image that is incoherent to the consumers and thats why it is interesting for them . The stars themselves are a paradox of being both present and absent whereby the camera and editing sometimes shows the band and what theyre like and then other times are not seen but just their style is expressed which makes the consumers strive to consume more. Then the other paradox is being ordinary and extraordinary whereby a band will appear to be normal to the consumers and relatable through experiences or clothing or a message and then they will be extraordinary because they stand out from the crowd and have something special that the consumer enjoys. I think the script covers all these aspects through messages of their songs and how they dress, yet they are unique with their style also and performance. Furthermore many of their album covers never show the band making them absent yet their videos show a lot of the band making them present which will make the consume want to make it coherent and consume more.

George - Response to Track

1. The song we have chosen is 'Walk Away' by The Script as seen previously.

2. The genre of there music is alternative rock and the videos often involve performance and some sort of narrative.

3. I think that The Script in particular often have quite hi fi videos but within this genre you can make a video that is lo fi but effective and technicle which is what we shall try to do.

4. A comparable video to this can be there earlier song from their older album 'the man who cant be moved'. This compiles of a strong narrative and at the same time he will be performing with lip synching. As with most of their videos it also inclues shots of the whole band performance.

5. From what ive seen the kind of budget similar music videos would have would be relatively high, other abands like maroon 5 and The Script tend to travel to far away places like LA and New York to film their videos which would be expensive. Furthermore the technology they use and effects look to be top of the range giving across the image of a higher budget production.

6. A rough treatment of our video has not been fully put together due to complications. What we do know however is there will be a strong lead and performance will be involved with a strong narrative. I have also thought of performance with piano at some point as that is a dominant factor in the music.

7. Current locations for our track have not been officially chose but a room with a piano in preferebly a big grand piano would be ideal and depending on the narrative we choose will depend on the other locations.

8. The main character as previously mentioned will have to be a strong lead to fully portray his heartbreak and emotion. We may also include other band members.

9. As for effects i think lighting will yet again be important to create a professional look and produce some good looking shots. I also hope to take advantage of the slow motion setting on the cameras we have if it is applicable.

10. As far as 'employment' goes i think only band members and the lead singer is needed and possibly a girlfriend. All of these positions can be easily arranged.

Group - Final Video

After much deliberation and discussion we have finally come to a decision on the final track we will be making into a video and that is The Script - Walk Away.



With the previous Kasabian track not all of our group was fully confident of it therefore we decided to make a change and in retrospect have found something that is even better than the Kasabian track.

Initial ideas about this song are that it has quite a strong message, of his heart being broken, therefore we will need a strong lead. I also think that some performance on a piano and lip synching will be needed for such a piece that is heavily influenced by the music.

George - New Song

After having chosen a song to do for our video the artist Plan B then released one for that particular song, meaning we have to change our track.

One option we have considered after much deliberation is Kasabian I.D. we have had a talk about this track and have managed to come up with some ideas.

1. as there is a lot of instrumental parts a strong narrative/concept is the best thing.

2. within the instrumental parts there may be some conversation between two characters where the words are subtitled along the bottom.

3. When the beat kicks in a shot i thought of was to flick backwards and forwards from one location to another in a jump shot

4. The basic treatment of the video will be one protaganist, the main character, has a couple of bad things happen to him within the subtitled shots, at this point he will have a sad mask on copared with a happy one to begin with. He will remain to have a sad mask until he listens to music at the point in the song where it says "music is my whore" where his face will turn happy as in this world he has nothing to worry about.

We have yet to have a full discussion on the idea and will post later on to verify and go into further detail of the video ideas.

George - How i will improve my blog use

This year as to improve my blog use i have looked at some of the blogs last year. From the better ones ive seen these are the core methods i will have to use:

1. Highlight and bold key terms.
2. Seperate up my posts into a more reader friendly way.
3. Interact more with other group members by commenting more.
4. In general post more often about group discussions, problems or descisions.

Group - Audience Feedback From First Play

We played our chosen track (Plan B - The Recluse) to a group of people who represent a sample of our target audience. We then asked them to give us some feedback about what we should include in our video. They recommended things such as location, costume and characters. Some of the ideas were as follows:

• Alternate between concept and performance shots
• Use only one main character
• Shoot in an urban setting
• Use dim/dark locations and lighting
• Lots of extreme close ups
• Band shots
• Old/worn costumes
• Prison location
• Dance scenes
• Fast cutting rate
• Start of video in rural location and the end of it in an urban one
• Main character being hunted/kidnapped

George - Mood Board

Here is my initial mood board:



To further improve this i will need to cover more specific aspects such as coulours and a vast array of the single pictures i have chosen so as to fully show the kind of mood we want to achieve.

James - How I Will Improve My Blog Use

This year I am going to try and increase the number of articles that I post, so that more of our thought process and analysis is shown. I think that as a group we could blog after each of our discussions and show any ideas that we have.

I will also try to put as many music videos or film clips that we can gain inspiration from on the blog. This should help us in the creative process if we are ever short of any ideas.

When I post longer blogs I am going to break up the text buy placing images and videos within it. I also think that highlighting any key words will make the posts in a different easier and quicker to read.

James - The Process Of Making A Music Video

Budgeting:
The producer puts together a budget which is then approved by the head of production. This budget is then given to the client who may wish to reduce or increase it depending on their available funds. Once the budget has been agreed the director and producer put together the main team of creative staff.

In recent years the amount of money available has reduced, and companies are becoming increasingly involved due to fear that the director will make a mistake. For example at Sony six different people at different levels of the company have to approve the plans before the green-light is given.


Shooting:
The shoot is usually prepared over five days and then only takes one or two to complete. The job of the director is to make the shoot look as good as possible for the money that is being spent. Costs are often very high, especially when there are lots of extras/dancers who have to be paid their daly fee on top of all their expenses.

George - The Process of Making a Music Video

Commisioning:-
Commisioning the video is naturaly done by a video commissioner who is employed by the record company of the artist. The commissioner will create a brief of what he plans for the video, the budget, a director, a deadline and other bits of information. He then sends it and the track to one or more directors either straight to them or though production companies. The commisioner after finding a director will then decide whether what the director comes up with is releaseable.

Planning:-
The director plans the video and does so by looking at previous videos from the artist, listening to the track and looking at the lyrics he then comes up with a rough proposal. This could be the beginning of a script or animatic storyboard which gives a general idea of the video. He then sends this to the client, has a meeting with the commissioner/record company and then the treatment is either altered or agrred upon. Only after this will the produce a detailed budget.

Responding to a track - JCutts

• In response to our track selection; Plan B - The Recluse of his latest album 'The Defamation of Strickland Banks' . This album is a turn on Plan B's past albums which have consisted of UK Grime in order to tackle darker issues, however this album tells a story of a ficitonal charecter , namely 'Strickland Banks' who finds himself in prison after being falsely convicted of a crime. The album gives a song by song insight into his nightmare in the cells, and the track we chose specifically tells people of the struggle of Stricklands time in prison as his time as 'A recluse'.

• Plan B exploring a more soulful approach but keeping his hiphop styled side as well. His video's he has already produced show a more high budget production. We can tell this by the numerous locations used inside the 'prison' and the choreography is very accurate. There are also varioues dance routine syncronised into the scenes which means that the actors used in the video would be multi skilled. This leaves us with a slight problem , as we will be working on a lower budget. However we feel if we are able to get around this factor and pull it off it will be worthwhile. With All three of us already coming up with idea's and inspiration we feel we can over come this factor.

• This style of music and the video's attaching with album is very unique , so with that in mind we have been looking closely at Plan B - Playin' . This is set in a prison and is the closest we feel to our track . We feel in order to keep this unique styled video we will have to use some of the basic structures of this video, however we will add in our own ideas and effects to hopefully give a high quality music video.

• We will have to include aspects of both performance and concept based , the majority of the video will have to shot in a 'prison- like' set as that is what the song is about. We will have to illustrate that the main charecter is seen as ''the recluse'' in prison and with the help of lightning, mise en scene etc to emphisise this. We will also need to incorporate some sort dance routines into some of the scenes such as a fight scene.

• We have had a few discussions about locations and have a few in mind , in order for us to get a 'prison look' we have tyhought about things such as toilets, changing rooms, showers. Obviously this will require us to get consent to film in those area's. We are also looking at a pub or jazz club type location for the performance based part of the song.

• We need to use a main lead who will have big stage presents and be very defiant. There will the majority of the shots on him and therefore they need ot be confident, realstic and able to lip sync.

• We will use very few special effects however an important factor will be the grain and contrast of the shot. We will need to take very special care of the lighting and where we position on set in order to perfect shots and give of the intended message.

• We are considering using a group of people who can be used to choregraph some syncronised dance moves, typical of a Plan B video, we will also need a few extra's to look realstic to the prison enviroment

George - Responding to a Track

1. The song we have chosen is "The Recluse" by Plan B as seen lower down in the page.

2. The genre of this track like the rest of the album is soul/hip hop, you can tell this by the mixture of his singing style and then the rap roughly in the middle of the song he does. Furthermore previous videos of his have shown us this style of genre.

3. I think with relation to previous videos that this track represents a hi fi video which have a particular British film style. As we do not have a massive budget we will have to carefully choose locations and also comprise a list of specific shots in order to pull off the effect we need.

4. A comparable video to this one would be Plan B's earlier one from the album 'Prayin' which is largely filmed in a prison too as thats part of the narrative he is portraying. He uses a number of locations and then tends to focus in and out with some shots creating a dreary and appealing effect. The choreography of the video is also interesting how the actors will suddenly break into dance which is quite surreal but effective and pleasing to the eye.

5. -

6. A rough treatment for our video will be him in a cell as the song is called recluse we want to portray the character in this way. There will possibly be parts of him in a lunch hall sitting alone with his antagonizers looking on in a hateful manner. To keep in line with the conventions of these other videos we will also include some dance in a shower room scene after there has been a confrontation with the main character. Finally there will also be some shots of him performing on stage mixed in.

7. Some locations weve already thought about are the toilets of our school, the changing rooms with showers there and a possible club to do the performance scenes in. All of these places will need permission prior to filming which is our main concern at the moment.

8. The main character will most likely be someone who looks a bit like plan b and who would suit ther persona of him. The prisoners wiil have to be quite rough looking but also be able to dance, but we already have some poeple in mind who can dance.

9. Whilst filming i think using clever lighting in some shots will add a good effect and make it seem more prison like rather than a school. As for after effets a wash over the top could be used to create an even more dreary image to abide with the type of place and song.

10. The people we will have to 'employ' are the friends we have in mind to do the dancing and acting as prisoners, the rest will be down to asking for permission for the locations.

George - Genre, Initial ideas

1. The genre of this song and indeed the whole album is soul/hip hop therefore we need to take into account aspects of these genres which we will want to include in our video. With this particular album each song tells a different part of a story of a fictitious character with the name of 'Strickland Banks', with this song he is at the point of the story where he is in prison for a falsely accused crime.

2. As to apply to the conventions of this particular album we will also be telling the story with a mixture of performance based shots as well. With placement of some well planned shots and a strong easily read narrative is how we will set about planning and shooting the video.

3.Our mood boards will reinforce some of the ideas and themes we wish to cover in a more visual way.

Group - Track we have chosen