Narrative Change, Clips We Added, More Feedback

After receiving feedback on our 3rd rough cut, we tweeked the narrative again so that we would just have Zoe cheating on her boyfriend, therefore demonstrating her 'best fake smile' by pretending that she is happy and in love with him while actually she isn't and is going out with Jay behind his back.
    We therefore filmed some more footage to add into the thread. As a result of previous feedback, the needed to film more with the actual boyfriend to emphasise that him and Jay are 2 different people as this was confusing the focus group.

After adding these clips, we played the edit to the same group again to see if there was any difference, writing down the feedback, most of which was the same as before, including the fact that it was still unclear that the girl was cheating on either boy.

Star Image Within Our Music Video

When shooting on our video, we needed to make sure that we were representing the star image of our artist correctly and as we had planned to do. This was done through the costumes that he wore as well as his action when singing in the forest.
     The costumes worn by the artist in both the narrative thread and the performance element connoted that our artist was an organic, indie artist, as he worn simple clothing such as a flannel shirt and black jeans. He also wore a jacket in some shots. We constructed the costume in this way, taking inspiration from other indie artist like James Bay, Tom Odell and Hozier. The use of this clothing signified that our artist is an indie artist as it is relaxed and casual, much like these other indie artists. This also conforms to indie artists not standing out based on their appearances as the clothing was nothing special, just simple shirts and jeans.

     In the video, Jay is seen to be wearing wristbands which we feel help connote that he is an indie artist as they can be used to demonstrate where he has been and the things he has experienced. This is important because as an indie artist, he writes songs from personal experiences and things he has seen. The wristbands therefore signify all the places he has been and the things he has witness or gone through. Additionally, in some shots, Jay is seen to be wearing a pork pie hat which makes him easily recognisable and also further identifies him as an indie artist. This applies to part of Dyer's Star Image theory in which he states that artists have something that the fans can imitate and copy and that also makes them recongisable. This is something we have done through the use of the wristbands and more importantly the hat. Dyer states how this is important as it is something that the fans can wear to be 'just like Jay Harper'.

     An additional aspect of Jay's appearance which is significant in the connotation that Jay is an average person is the fact that he wears glasses. This is important because it signifies to the audience that he like everyone, he too has imperfections but wont hide away from them. This suggests that he isn't afraid to show who he really is as well as connoting that again, his appearance isn't what he wants to use to achieve success as he could construct the image that he is perfect by wearing contacts, however, he chooses not to and to show his true, natural self.
     During the performance element, we connoted that our artist is a serious indie artist through directing him to use his body language to show his passion for the song and musicality. It was important that he didn't smile in this element as this would not have connoted the right attitude for an indie artist. I think that it would have been even more successful in connoting that our artist is a serious, organic, indie artist if we used the guitar on location.

     Furthermore, when filming in the studio, we featured a guitar which further signifies that he is an organic, indie artist. This is because the use of this instrument connotes that he has other talents than simply singing. We took a wide range of shots including close-ups and wide angle shots. I feel as though the close-ups are particularly important because they can show the audience that Jay can actually play the guitar and that he is doing so in the video. The shots from further away will be less effective in highlighting this because although it can be seen that he is playing the guitar, it could be hard to tell that he actually is playing it rather than just moving his hands around.
     In terms of location, we represented Jay's organic nature by having him perform in a rehearsal studio as this connotes that he is practising to perform and is working hard to master his craft. This therefore signifies that he is hard-working and determined to do well, however, like an indie artist is shows that he wants to do well based on his skills and talents as an artist. We also placed Jay in the forest and outdoors locations constantly throughout the music video. This was done to make him seem more organic and natural by surrounding him nature and organic objects. He also clearly enjoys being outdoors and is in touch with nature which connotes that he is an indie artist as it is unlikely that a pop artist will be found in the forest.
     Overall, I believe that we have effectively demonstrated that our artist is an organic indie artist using a variety of methods from costume to props and locations.

Vinyl for Similar Artists

As we have decided to make a vinyl for our artist, I have looked at some vinyl records for artists that are similar in conjunction with their digipaks.

From this, it can be seen that the packaging for both the vinyl and the standard CD is the same as they show the same images. On the centre of the record itself is an image which is also similar to the one on the CD in the digipak.

     Therefore, it can be seen that the use of the same images creates continuity and is important in allowing the audience to recognise the artists products easily.

Digipak and Vinyl

To ensure that we are correctly creating our digipak, we had to check the dimensions.

We have also decided that we want to make a vinyl for our artist to sell and again, we had to check the dimensions of this because this would be different to that of the digipak. For this, we will need dimensions for the actual record as well as its sleeve.

Paolo Nutini's Website

Jay Harper's Biography

To help me write the biography for Jay Harper, I made a list of all the facts I wished to include:

• 19 year old British singer/songwriter from Winchester
• Started to learn guitar aged 7 
• At the age of 16 he started to play gigs in small local venues as well as busking in Bournemouth 
• From this he started to gain attention and build a fan base
• At 18, he was noticed by a representative from Moonlight Records who offered him a record deal
• Released his debut single in November 2015

After doing this it was easier to structure the biography and I found it much easier to write.This is the first draft of the biography which will appear on Jay Harper's website.

British singer/songwriter, Jay Harper (born 7 April 1996), from Winchester is an emerging indie artist with his debut single 'Best Fake Smile' being released in November 2015.
     The 19 year old was brought up in a family surrounded by music, his mother was a singer in the local choir and his father taught him how to play guitar from the age of 7. Harper later began to take guitar lessons at a music shop close to where he lived where he was encouraged to sing and write songs.
     At 16 Jay Harper began to play live gigs in small, local venues as well as busking on the streets of Winchester near The Brooks Shopping Centre. Harper was approached by a representative from Moonlight Records, who praised his raw talent and song writing skills,while performing in a pub at age 18. The label then signed Harper as they believed that they could nurture his image in a way which would preserve the qualities that the representative first took note of.

Writing the Biography for Our Artist

George Ezra's Website

Review of Editing So Far

When editing the video, there have been both strengths and weaknesses, however, I believe that overall, we have been successful in creating a product which we are happy with so far.
     At first, we edited the video using the storyboard for guidance, however, due to the fact that wen changed the narrative, we stopped using this as it was no longer applicable. We did however, use the timeline we had created as a guide to help us with what shots we had and hadn't used.

     We did have some difficulty when matching the audio with the lip-syncing. This was because Jay did not sing all of the words in a lot of the takes, making it hard to find the right part. Additionally, the clips needed the be rendered constantly as they were lagging, making it even harder to match with the audio.
     Due to the fact we wanted to include close-up images of the guitar as Jay played it, we had to isolate the correct part of these clips for the music which was hard because we wanted to find the clips that looked the most accurate and match them to the audio as well as the clips where the chords were played the best. We did manage to do this successfully but it was time consuming and fairly difficult.
     Moreover, due to the obvious grain on certain clips, we had to edit those separately, making them darker so that the grain couldn't be seen. This was not difficult but was annoying as it meant that we had to leave gaps for those clips and remember what we wanted to put there.
      When cutting the clips to the beat, we had to listen very carefully to the music as without this, it would've been very difficult to do. I believe that we were successful in cutting to the beat.
      Overall, despite the difficulties we have had, we were able to overcome them and I feel as though we have been able to edit successfully as a group to produce a complete rough cut of our music video, 

Photos from the Photoshoot and an Initial Edit

These are collages of the photos taken at our photoshoot as well as a slide show with each shot.

We also have an initial edit of something that could be used as the album cover for Jay's album. The person who edited this had attempted to give it an authentic, rustic look because as a group, this was something that we thought would be good to show Jay's authentic and organic nature as an artist. 

Rough Cut 3

We have finished editing a complete rough cut with no gaps to be filled and held a focus group so that we would be able to get feedback on what we can improve further as well as help us understand what the audience would be seeing and if they can see what we had intended. We asked a group of 16/17 year olds as they are members of our target audience so therefore we are getting advice from those who are likely to watch the video.

From the feedback, it is clear that the audience didn't quite understand the narrative with a lot of them commenting on the fact that the reason for this is that there was only a small amount of footage showing Zoe and her boyfriend. Another thing that was mentioned was the fact that it should start with Zoe and her boyfriend, not with Jay. This is something that we will be able to correct because we are arranging a shoot day where we can film more of Zoe and Ben and then after this, we will be able to edit more of this and incorporate it into the video.
     Another comment made was that some of the lip syncing was out of time. This is something that is very important and will need to be fixed in order to give a convincing performance as well as look professional,
    Some of the people in the focus group also thought that some of the shots of Jay were too quick which is something else for us to look at. As well as this, both groups believed that this was a pop video when we were actually targeting an indie audience, giving us something to think about when we go back to edit as well as something to look at in terms of the audience understanding of an indie artist.
    Both groups said that they really liked the music group, with some of them stating that they liked the use of locations throughout the video. One group said that their favourite part was the end shot with the sparklers.
    The focus groups thought the video was well cast although more emotion was needed by Zoe at times. They also liked how it was cut to the beat of either the guitar or the drums.
    From this feedback, there is a lot for us to consider before we finish editing and lot of areas for us to improve on in order to create a successful music video.

Rough Cut 2

After filling in some of the gaps in the video and adding in the new narrative thread, we exported the video, creating a second rough cut. There are still somethings that need to be fixed, including the fact that there are still black gaps in between some of the shots. Additionally, we realised that there was a shot which is repeated when Jay is singing in the forest. This is something that we will need to change as it is very obvious that it is the same shot. Some of the shots are still grainy which is again something that we will need to look at. 

                                    

Rough Cut and Feedback

We exported what we have edited so far. This rough cut contains part of the narrative with Zoe being happy with Jay as well as the performance elements we have filmed.

                                       

After having exported the video, it was clear that there were several areas that needed improvement. This included the fact that we still had gaps to fill as well as the fact the some of the shots are quite grainy. At this point, we had not added the new narrative thread to the edit, therefore, this is something that we will need to do when we are editing again. 

I showed the edit to 2 other people in order to confirm what we already knew needed improvement, such as the filling in of the gaps, which it did. The feedback also allowed us to see if the audience understood the narrative. 

Our Photoshoot

We organised a photoshoot so that we had pictures for the album cover. We asked our artist to wear different clothing to what he had previously worn while still keeping to the same style. This was important because the fashion sense of our artist is a big factor in the creation of his star image. We took a lot of photos from different angles as well as some with a guitar and some without.

Audience Reception of Indie Artists

Filming Review 07/11/2015

Due to the change in narrative concept, we needed to take some extra footage. We needed to film Zoe out with her boyfriend, who she is cheating on, representing her boyfriend as nasty and mean to her. This is because our narrative is about how she is being fake by pretending she is happy with him when really she isn't.
     We decided it would be a good idea to get some shots inside as otherwise the majority of our video would take place outside. We went to a park with a cafe so that we could film both inside and outside. We asked the owner of the cafe if it would be ok to film in there and thankfully, they were happy for us to do so.
     The weather was not good when we started filming as it was pouring with rain and the sky was dark, however, this was good because we could use the idea of pathetic fallacy, connoting the unpleasant nature of the relationship through the weather. It did start to brighten up as we progressed which could be used to signify Zoe's realisation that she is happier with Jay than her boyfriend.
     Overall, I believe that the shots we took were effective and when we put them into the video, they will connote the narrative as we had hoped.

Benjamin Clementine

Shots for the New Narrative Concept

Due to the fact that we have altered the narrative concept, we do not have the footage of Zoe and Sam's unhappy relationship. We will therefore need to film this and have put together a list of shots which we could take that we believe will effectively signify this idea.

• Sam arrives late to a date with Zoe and doesn't seem to care that she has been waiting for him to arrive
• The couple are sitting on a bench but are clearly quite distance and not enjoying each other's company
• The couple are walking together but when Sam reaches for Zoe's hand, she moves it away
• The couple are on a date but Sam is ignoring Zoe, sitting looking at his phone instead
• Sam and Zoe have an argument
• Sam doesn't hold the door open for Zoe and doesn't give her his coat when she is clearly shivering/ the umbrella when it is raining. 

Change of Narrative Concept

On review of our narrative thread, we decided that we were no longer going to have the girl hiding her relationship from her disapproving friends, but rather have her cheating on her boyfriend with our artist. We wanted to keep to the idea that she is hiding something and putting on her 'best fake smile' and believe that this is a better way to connote this idea.

Here is the updated narrative concept:

• Jay (artist) and Zoe are secretly together
• Zoe is already in a relationship but is unhappy with her boyfriend, Sam. who she is constantly arguing with
• Zoe would rather be with Jay as they are happy together and Jay is aware of the fact that Zoe doesn't want to be with Sam anymore
• Zoe has a memory book filled with happy memories of her with Jay as well as her friends, reminding her of the reasons she enjoys Jay's company and why she would rather be with him
• Jay is singing about the fact that he wants Zoe to be happy and not pretend to feel that way in her relationship with Sam when in reality she could be in a fun, carefree relationship with him instead

why changed to this and then why we didnt use it

Re-filming the Performance Elements

On review of our footage, we have been able to see that our artist is not giving a convincing performance as he has blank facial expressions and looks very unsure of the lyrics. This has resulted in us having to re-film these elements.
     We used a different location for filming in the forest this time around. This was not a problem at all as the location still had the same connotations and was therefore still appropriate to use in this video. We filmed out side in a forest-like location as we wanted to keep to a natural setting and help connote the organic nature of our artist. When we filmed this, we took different shots which we could use alongside the outdoor performance shots that we had already taken and create a new performance thread in the video. We took a range of different shots, including a tracking shot and a shot with the artist sitting in the tree to add visual interest to our video.
     We also re-filmed the studio performance to make it look more like the artist is performing in a small venue to a small audience. In this, we still used the black backdrop, however, we placed amps behind our artist, gave him a guitar and put a microphone in front of him. We directed him to perform as if an audience was actually there to help him become more animated. We also used 2 cameras when filming this instead of 1 like the previous time. This was very beneficial as it helped enhance our efficiency. This was because we could take the shots from 2 angles at a time, rather than having to move the camera every time. This meant that we could get more shots done as we were not relying on just 1 camera each take.
      Overall, I now feel confident that we have enough footage of the performance elements to help connote the image of our artist effectively. I also believe that these shots will be very useful in the editing of our music video.

Vlogging Our Shoot Days

We decided it would be a good idea to vlog throughout the day when we were filming. We started this at the beginning of the day, however, as it got later, we didn't have time to do this as much as we would like.

Filming in the Studio

Part of our music video features the use of the studio for the performance element, so we used the studio we have at school to do this. We used a black backdrop as we had previously stated that we wanted to use. The lighting was set up so that we could clearly see the artist performing and we used a guitar to help connote the desired star image.

     We managed to get a range of shots which we thought we would be able to use, however, upon review, we decided that the footage was not suitable and therefore we would have to re-film. This was because the artist's facial expressions made it look as though he was unsure of the lyrics and therefore this would not give a convincing performance. 

     Additionally, we were unhappy with the shots as the artist just looks like he is standing in front of a black curtain, therefore, when we re-film, we will be using a microphone and some guitar amps to make it appear as though he is performing in a small venue.