Final Music Video:

Final Music Video:

Final Digi-Pak:

Final Digi-Pak:

Final Website:

Final Website:

Here is the link to our completed website: 

http://katedouetil2.wix.com/carterjames

Evaluation Task 4: How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Evaluation 4: How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

This is the script that we used to answer this question: 

We started the process by deciding to focus on a ‘rock group’ image, therefore we knew that a performance element would be key to our video. As a result, we chose the song ‘Grounds For Divorce’ by Elbow. Having filmed an animatic of our rough storyboard on the Sony NX5 and cut it together on Final Cut Pro, we decided that we needed to include a narrative element in order to add another exciting dimension to the video.

We filmed the performance element on a Sony FS100, as by using prime lenses we were able to capture higher quality footage that added to the authentic nature of the band. Equally, by measuring out the length of shot, the footage was much sharper and helped to bring clarity to the video. Furthermore, we used a lighting monitor to co-ordinate and control all the lights, thus ensuring that all the members of the band were visible.

In the pre-production stage we used digitisation to transfer the footage from the camera’s hard drive to the editing software Adobe Premier. We used the rhythmic determent of the music and placed marker on the beats on the timeline, thus indicating potential cutting points. To finish the video we used colouring and grading tools. We adjusted the colour palette so it had a blue tint, and did this by altering the contrast and saturation of shots. Also we added a letterbox effect to generate an epic, cinematic feel.

In order to create effects we imported short action sequences from Adobe Premier to Adobe After Effects. We used stock footage of muzzle flashes and placed them on top of the image. We had to size and position them correctly, in order to ensure that the flash occurred around the end tip of the gun. By blending the light around the gun the effect merged with the background, and this helped to make the shot more realistic. By placing masks around the actors faces, the faces of the actors lit up with the gunfire, thus made the action more genuine and impressive looking. To emphasise continuous gunfire we used motion tracking, as it followed the point of the gun and highlighted the muzzles flashes.

To film the narrative element we used a Sony NX5, as it allowed us to have a higher shutter speed and it had integrated lenses, thus we were able to adjust to the moment, making the footage seem more spontaneous. This helped us to create a more exciting and tense atmosphere. We used the camera handheld to further intensify the movements of the actors, as it helped us to engage the audience and bring them into the drama.

For the explosion shot we used multiple layers of stock footage. By speeding up the images of mud and smoke, we created a much more impressive and realistic explosion. Moreover, we used motion tracking to place the explosion behind the girl, thus we had to cut around her and the woodland background.

In order to make our set more realistic, we undertook research on the Internet and used various mediums as inspiration. The most beneficial source of information was the music video 21 Guns by Green Day and a section of the film Mr and Mrs Smith as it helped us piece together an image of what our set and narrative elements should look like. In relation to the set, we took images of the couple on a Canon 70D and printed them out in order to heighten the link between the performance and narrative element.

Evaluation Task 3: What did you learn from you audience feedback?

Evaluation Task 2: How effective is the combination of your main produce and ancillary texts?

Evaluation Task 2: How effective is the combination of your main produce and ancillary texts? 

This is the script we used for our task 2 evaluation: 

An artist’s image is extremely important, as it conveys the artist’s ethos and character to their target audience. Richard Dyer defines star image as, the semi-mythological set of meanings constructed around music performers in order to sell the performer to large and loyal audience. Thus, the star is not a real person but just an image that has been created out of a range of materials. Yet, audiences idolise their favourite artists, and this is due to the fact that they identify with the star image that has been created. Our bands star image was one of authenticity and rebellion, and we attempted to portray this throughout our video and ancillary texts. We gained inspiration from bands such as, The 1975, Mumford & Sons, Imagine Dragons and Kodaline. These bands all portrayed a similar star image, and did so through using ‘grungy’ locations in their videos, casual dark clothing and dark colours on their website and album covers. The bands also centred their products on key images or themes, thus we decided to use this idea in the construction of our products. We did this by focusing on two key motifs, trees and lightbulbs, and this also helped to establish a link between all of our products.

We constructed our star image through various creative choices, and attempted to establish links between our video, digipak and website. By reflecting the bands star image in all three of our media products, we ensure that the audience recognise our band, thus each product helps to cross promote our artist. Our target audience is 17-25 year old males, predominantly Caucasian, middle-class in terms of demographic profiling. The video will appeal to people who listen to indie rock music, due to the organic focus on lyrics and the authentic nature of the band. We did not want our band to appeal to mainstream users, and thus we focused on the ‘Britishness’ of our band, shown through stereotypical rebellious teenage images.

COLOUR AND FONT:

As our star image focuses on authenticity and rebellion, we wanted the band to be seen as rather mysterious, therefore concentrated our products around dark colours. We added a blue tint to our music video, by altering the saturation and brightness on Adobe Colour Correction, and this generated a cold atmosphere in the video which emphasised the ‘dangerous’ nature of the band. We also reflected this through our choices of props and clothing, as the destroyed bedroom in the performance element had blue wallpaper and the band was all dressed in dark blue or black clothing. We took inspiration from ‘The 1975’, as they are dressed similarly in dark clothing that reflects their rebellious star image. As a result, our colour scheme for our website and digipak centred on this blue and black colour scheme. We used a white background with black text on our home page screen, as it was mainly dominated with an image, but the rest of the website pages had a black background and white font. Although we did not use a blue background, the pictures on the website were edited with a blue tint, therefore the colour scheme of the website to an extent matched the video. We took inspiration from ‘The Script’s’ website and album cover, as they used the exact same colour and font on these two products. This helped to create a link between the products, and the blue colour helped to reflect the bands organic star image. As a result, we used images on the digipak that had been edited with a blue tint, thus the authenticity of our band was emphasised and the album linked with our other products. We also used the same font on the album cover that we used on the website, thus another link was drawn between the two products. The font we chose was simple, but with a slight slant which helped to intensify the reckless nature of our band. We used the colour black as it helped to intensify the text, thus we ensured that the text was visible against the image. By placing the text in the middle of the image the audience was immediately drawn to it, and this helped to promote the name of our band ‘Carter James’.  

MOTIFS:

In all three of our products, we present the images of light bulbs and trees. These images reflect our star image, as the lightbulb represents the quirkiness of our band, whilst the trees portray the rebellious mysterious nature of the band. These images are central in our video, as the single lightbulb in the performance element is drawn attention to through numerous close ups.  Imagine Dragons uses the same image in their website and digipak, and this helps to establish a running theme throughout the bands products. We used this for inspiration in the creation of our star image, thus we took these central images from our video and reflected them in our website and digipak. Moreover, the narrative element is shot in a woods, thus the dangerous side of the band is effectively conveyed. Equally, the home page of our website displays an image of a hand holding a lightbulb with a tree growing inside. We constructed this image through taking a photo of a tree and a lightbulb and merging the two together on Photoshop. As a result, the audience are immediately drawn into the mysterious star image of our band, and are able to draw connections between the website and music video. Throughout the rest of the website, the header involves an image of lightbulbs, thus this motif is continually emphasised throughout. Furthermore, on our digipak, the front cover depicts the lead singer in the woods thus the motif of trees is accentuated. We wanted to generate a ‘wild’ atmosphere, thus had him standing alone, but surrounded by trees. This helped to heighten the rebellious star image, but also the authentic and organic nature of the band. Equally, we had a close up image of trees on the back of the digipak, and the same on the second panel. We used the same image of the lightbulb and tree on the third panel (where the CD goes), thus establishing another link between our two products. By continually using these two motifs the bands star image was emphasised, but it also helped to familiarise the audience with the band and caused them to identify the band with these two symbols.

PROMOTION:

In order to promote our band, we decided that we wanted to use a front man, so that the audience could identify with both the band as a whole, and as an image. As a result, in our video we had the lead singer standing slightly forward and away from the rest of the group, and this distinguished him as the front man. Equally, we began and ended the video with close ups of him, thus the audience were immediately able to connect with the bands leading image. We translated this image onto the digi-pak and website, as we put the lead singer on the front of the digi-pak in order to infer that he is ‘Carter James’. We also used another photo of him in the inside cover, as it allowed us to highlight the fact that the band was represented by the lead singer. We took inspiration from ‘The Script’ here, as they use the idea of a front man in both their digi-pak and website. In order to incorporate the idea of a front man in our website, we used images of him in the gallery and placed them at the top of the page. The majority of the images centred around him and due to their placement, the audience were immediately drawn to him. By using a front man we were able to promote our band as the audience could identify easily with the band as a whole, but mainly through the eye catching image of the lead singer.

WEAKNESSES:

There were certain aspects that we could have improved, in order to emphasise the bands star image and the link between the products. For example, we did not involve a logo on any of our products, and this would have really helped to intensify the link between the digipak and website. Using a logo would have allowed us to brand the band with a specific image that the audience could relate to, yet instead we relied on the power of colour and motifs. Also, the colour scheme on the website is mainly black and white, with only a slight blue tint, whereas the video and digipak have a very obvious blue tint. This prevents the products from being completely similar, therefore slightly detracts from the bands star image and limits audience recognition. 

Evaluation Task 1: In what ways do your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Timelapse of Production Days:

Timelapse of Production Days:

Light Bulb image:

Light Bulb image: 

Having taken multiple images, we merged the two together on Photoshop to produce this image below. We were glad that this image reflected the two major motifs of our video (light bulbs and trees) as it helped to intensify our bands star image. Having edited the photo we added this to our website front page, and decided to place it on one of the panels of our digi-pak.

Digi-Pak

Digi-Pak:

Having decided that we wanted our dig-pak to centre around images of the wood, we began to construct the four panels. We wanted the front cover to involve a striking image of the 'front man' of the band, and the name 'Carter James' in larger lettering. Having used a particular font on the website, we decided to replicate it on the album so that the two are close to identical. We hope that this would draw a link between the two products and make them recognisable to consumers. As the main thematic element of the digi-pak centred around the woods, we decided to incorporate this on the back of the digi-pak and on the CD page as well. To do this, we zoomed in and cut out pieces of the woods from the centre image, thus they all have the same colour palette. This establishes a link between the panels and adds to the bands authenticity, and organic star image.

Here is the images that we hope to use:

This is to be the front image of the digi-pak. We still need to adjust the text, so that it is more in the centre but apart from that, we are happy with this as a front cover image.

This is to be the back panel of the digi-pak. We made up some other song names in order to make the digi-pak look more realistic, and we used the same font and colour scheme as on the front. We still need to add a barcode and the labels image to the back cover, as only then will it look really realistic.

This is to be the image underneath the CD, thus we did not want it to be overly exciting. As a result, we decided to continue the theme of the woods by having a stylistic image of fallen trees. As this image will be partially obscured by the CD, we did not want to add any text to this image, as it would only be lost.

Having decided three of the panels, we began to brainstorm ideas for the inside cover. Some members of the group argued for another image of the 'front man', but I argued against this, as I felt that we needed to incorporate the other band members as well. As a result, we came to the decision that we would take four headshots of the band members and put them in the front cover, thus signalling that it was not just a sole artist work, but a collaboration of people.

Merchandise:

Merchandise: 

We looked at various real artists merchandise pages as inspiration for our own.

We realised that T-Shirts were the main product that artists used, as there are multiple combinations that can be used to promote the artist. As a result, we decided to create one t-shirt with the name 'Carter James' on and then one with the name and an image. Additionally, we created a hoodie and cap, in black and white, with the name 'Carter James' on. We used the same font for each in order to establish a link between the products. We decided to stick with the colours black and white, as they matched the bands star image and linked with the websites colour scheme.

We used Vistaprint to create the merchandise, and then created a store on the website.
http://www.vistaprint.co.uk/?GP=2%2f7%2f2015+2%3a25%3a31+PM&GPS=3425795771&GNF=1

Here is the merchandise we created:

Light Bulbs:

Light Bulbs:

Having completed the majority of the pages on the website, we began to concentrate on the front page, as this would be the most important. We wanted the website to be instantly striking and convey the bands star image, thus we began to research images of interesting light bulb photography. Here is some images that we took for inspiration:

We really liked the sharpness of these images, thus we knew that we wanted a close up of a single bulb as the image of our front cover. Having decided this, we began to brainstorm ideas of incorporating both thematic elements together in one image. Therefore, we decided to play around with an  an image of a light bulb and  a tree, and then photo shop the tree into the light bulb. We hoped that this would provide an enticing image that would immediately drawn in the audience. Here is some of the images we are looking at merging together:

For the background for the rest of our website, we chose an image of multiple light bulbs and recreated it, so that we had a variety of light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. We decided to keep the website in black and white as it made it look more clean and professional, and added to the 'mysterious' star image of the band.

Social Media on the Website:

Social Media on the Website:

We wanted our website to be accessible to our target demographic (males aged 17-25), thus we wanted to involve other social media websites where we could promote the band. Having done some basic research, we knew that Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were the mostly widely used by our target audience, thus we set about creating pages for our band. We created a 'Carter James' Facebook and Twitter page, and then linked them to the website. We used the same images and colour palette, thus ensuring that the 3 websites were connected together. As a result, we combined images of the woods and light-bulbs in order to emphasise these thematic elements. In the bio sections, we used information similar to the details on the ABOUT page, thus we began to build up the bands star image and promotional campaign. We connected the YouTube page to the video, so that when you click on it, the video immediately begins to play. Again this was about building up a promotional campaign for the band. In relation to this, we created a SIGN UP page for the website, so that we could gain 'feedback' or 'fan mail' from potential audiences. To do this we created a Gmail account for the band and added it as a footer to every page of the website. We hoped that this would encourage audiences to become involved with the artist and thus benefit promotion.

Development of the Website and Digi-Pak

Development of the Website and Digi-Pak

Having done our initial brainstorming session, we began to develop our ideas for the website and digi-pak. We knew that we wanted to centre the two products around the images of woods and light-bulbs, thus we began to channel our creativity into incorporating these themes into an actual product.

Firstly, we undertook a photo shoot with the lead singer, as although we had taken a lot of photos on the shoot day, we needed more images for the website. Equally, we wanted these images to focus solely on the lead singer, in order to emphasise the image of him as the front man. We chose to locate the photo shoot in the woods around our school, thus they were easily accessibly but provided a variety of interesting shots. Here are a few that we particularly liked:

Having done the photo shoot, we decided that we wanted to use the images of the lead singer in the woods on the digi-pak, as establishes a mental image in potential consumers minds. We wanted to promote the lead singer on the digi-pak, but the band on the website, therefore we decided to use  the theme of the woods on the digi-pak and the light-bulb theme on the website. This would provide a distinction between the products, but ensure that they were still linked to the video. Yet, we uploaded all the pictures we had onto the GALLERY page of our website, as we wanted the website to look authentic and professional, thus wanted to use a variety of photos. We edited the images carefully before we uploaded them, as we wanted them to be sharp and clear, but of more muted colours, as we decided that our colour palette would involve, blues, greys, blacks and whites. This links with the colour palette of our video, thus we were creating a link between the three products.

Having created the GALLERY paged, we focused on the ABOUT page of the website. We looked at similar artists websites, such as The Script, Elbow and Kodaline for inspiration, as we wanted to know what generic information we should provide. Thus, we centred the ABOUT page around where the band comes from, and introduced the lead singer as the front man and then the rest of the band members. We did not want the text to be too long, as audiences would lose interest, thus we created a concise summary that explained the bands background. We also decided that this would be a good page to portray the video, thus we embedded it into the website so that when someone clicked on the ABOUT page, the video automatically began to play. This is a good way to promote the band, as it forces the audience into watching the video without them being aware of the advertising.

We then focused on the TOUR page of our website, as we needed to create a variety of locations where our band would play. We researched various venues that coincided with the star image of the band and then added them to the website. We linked the website with Ticketmaster, as we decided that they were a suitable site that would sell tickets.

Evaluation of Shoot Day X2

Evaluation of Shoot Day X2

Having already filmed the performance element of our band, we set about arranging the shoot for the narrative element of the video. This involved creating a rough story boards of key shots that we wanted, but as wanted the footage to be mainly hand held and jumpy, we did not need to plan rigorously. Therefore, our main purpose was to ensure that the actors looked realistic in shooting the guns, in an attempt to remove any potential comic elements.

We had prepared for the shoot quite well, as we had made sure that the actors were familiar with each other and the guns, so that their interactions would look more fluid and realistic. Before we started shooting, we dressed the actors in their outfits and made sure that they looked how we wanted them too. After this, we walked around the woods we had chosen to film out, in order to get an idea of the key locations we would use. As we had already researched the woods (as it was at my house), it was easy to find the best areas to use thus the preparation before the shoot did not take long. The main thing we did was to check how slippery the ground was, as we did not want the actors to trip and fall, thus we had to re-think some of our shots as the ground was just too wet to have the actors running. However, this was only a minor set back and we began to film reasonably quickly after arriving at the location.

We had divided the roles on the previous shoot, therefore we re-divided them, so that we all got to do something different. I mainly worked on the camera, which was great fun, as the majority of the shots were running tracking shots. The improvisation of the actors actions was fun to work with, as it gave me freedom to use a variety of shots to capture different elements. As we already had a strong performance element, we only needed a minute or so of footage to edit in, thus we did not shoot in specific sequences but more general actions. Thus, we got numerous tracking shots from different positions of the two actors running at each other with guns, as this could be cut in anywhere. The main element we wanted to convey through the narrative, was an escalation of anger as the song progressed, thus we wanted to incorporate the actors changing their gun, for an even bigger, fiercer one. As a resulted, we constructed mini sequences that we would be able to easily add to the performance video, thus showed the two actors becoming more aggressive. This worked really well on the day, as each actor sold their anger well and made the action look more realistic. The only area I wish had gone better, was when the girl actor changed her small pistol for a larger gun. As the ground was really wet, we had her changing the gun behind a tree, yet it did not look that realistic and began to look more comical. Hopefully though, we will be able to cut between these shots in order to present the best part of the action. The most successful part of the shoot, was the use of the smoke grenades. They really added to the atmosphere of the piece and provided another alternative form of weaponry. The smoke looked really good against the autumnal background, and heightened the sense of warfare.

Overall, the shoot was a great success as we quickly and efficiently filmed what we needed, as each member of the group new what role they had to do. We worked well as a team and as a result the footage we acquired was good, and should hopefully work well with the performance element.

Rough Cut: Audience Feedback

Rough Cut: Audience Feedback

After editing a rough cut of our performance element, we showed our work to some of our friends in order to gain an insight into what our potential audience might think of the video. We knew that the video was not perfect, thus the audience feedback will be very useful in ascertaining which parts we need to alter.

The audience generally responded well to the video, and many were surprised by how good it looked, considering we had a limited time to plan. This boosted our confidence in the video, and assured us that we were meeting our audiences approval.

STRENGTHS:

- The audience really liked the hand held elements of the video, as they said it brought a good atmosphere to the piece and reflected the music well. As a result of this feedback, we might try to incorporate more of the hand held camera work, especially in the chorus sections. However, we still want the shots to vary through out the piece, thus might leave the hand held footage until near the end, as it will have a bigger impact when the song reaches its crescendo.

- The focus pull shot of the guitarist and bassist met our audience's approval, as they commented that it added another dramatic edge to the video. As we were not entirely sure on the effectiveness of this shot, we were pleased that it had a good response, thus will try and incorporate it when we add the narrative element of the video.

- The audience thoroughly enjoyed the band as well, and thought that each member looked realistic and engaging. The audience particularly liked the drummer and singer, and as this coincided with our view, we were really pleased that this had been translated to the audience through the video. The audience liked the variations of shots on the drummer as well, especially the close ups. As we had worked on the drummer's elements for a long while, we were happy that the hard work had paid off.

- The set also met with the audiences approval, especially the ripped mattress and feathers raining down from the ceiling. Although many said that the concept was a bit obscure, they still enjoyed the atmosphere of the set and thought it worked well with the song. Hopefully, when we add in the narrative element the concept will be more apparent and will reflect the set more.

WEAKNESSES:

- Although the audience understood that it was a band performing, they commented that we focused to much on the lead singer and thus the other members were shown to be slightly less important. As our aim is to promote a band we need to address this problem, therefore will probably remove some close ups of the singer and replace them with wide shots of the whole band, or mid shots of the guitarist and bassist.

- Some of the audience did not like the bassist, and thought that his expression was quite "comical and weird". However, as they were friends with the bassist this could be due to their familiarity with him, but nevertheless, we will try and see if there are similar shots we can use that have a more 'normal' expression.

Overall therefore, our band was really happy with the audience feedback, and will use it to improve elements of the video.



Editing

Editing

Having filmed our performance element, we began to create a rough cut of our video. This will be really useful once we have filmed the narrative element, as it will be far easier to incorporate the other footage if we already have a video to work with. We first familiarised ourselves again with Premiere (the editing software), and then began to sink each clip to the song. This involved linking the right time sequence that appeared on the clapper board, with each the song, so that the clip would always be in time. This was a long process as we have numerous clips, but will be ensure that our video looks right, as the singers lip syncing will only look realistic if it is in time. As we synced each clip, we renamed it, so that when we came to properly editing, we would know exactly which shot was which.

Having synced each shot, and removed the audio for each clip and replaced it with the track, we began to edit the clips together. We worked in 10 seconds chunks, so that we were not overwhelmed with the amount of shots we would have to piece together. As the beginning was the most important part, we decided to leave it until the end, so that when we had finished it would be easier to introduce the video with the right shots.

Our group decided to work in pairs, so that one pair would work on editing whilst the other would work on the website and album. This meant that we all had a go at editing, but also were involved with the creative tasks of constructing a proper band website and album.

Beginning of the Website:

Beginning of the Website:

As we began to edit the video, we started work on the website as well. We researched bands with a similar star image in order to gain inspiration for our own website. We really liked the black and white theme that The 1975 uses in their website, and how the front page is a mixture of striking images. However, we equally liked the bold image on The Scripts opening webpage. We noticed how both bands had their name in big letters in the opening page, and how it was in the same place on all the other pages as well. We compared the different sub pages of artists webpages, and came to the conclusion that we needed to involve an ABOUT, GALLERY, MERCHANDISE, TOUR pages, as these were all communally featured. 

Having done some initial research, we decided that we wanted to have a bold image on the front page of website, in order to entice potential consumers. We therefore began to think of a symbol that embodied the nature of the band, and one that we could use to link our three products together. Having discussed our options, we decided that the two key thematic elements of the video were the 'woods' and the 'light-bulb'. Both these elements reflect the star image of the band, as the woods link with the 'rebellious' and 'bad-boy' image we want our front man to embody, and the 'light-bulb' represents the authenticity of the band. As a result, we decided that we would use these two themes in the website and digi-pak in order to establish a link between our three products, that an audience could identify with. Therefore, we decided to do a photo shoot of the lead singer, as we wanted to picture him in the woods so that we could develop this thematic element. Equally, we began to play around with images of trees in light bulbs, as we though this would be a striking image for the front cover of the website. 

Evaluation of Shoot Day:

 Evaluation of Shoot Day:

Before our shoot day, we constructed the set in the studio, so that it would be ready for us to film first thing in the morning. Firstly, we created a room like shape using seven boards so that it formed an open box shape. We then began cutting, numbering and placing the wallpaper on these walls so that it began to resemble a real bedroom. After this, we moved the furniture into the room, starting with the mattress and parts of the broken bed frame. After this, we put the drum kit into the room, and then place the chest of drawers next to it. Having stuffed the drawers with overflowing clothes, we then put some of the broken photo frames on top of the drawers. After this, we set up the light bulb hanging from the ceiling as well as the light bulb and fairy lights. This involved draping or sticking the wire over the walls, so that we could connect them to the power source. As we did not want to ruin the illusion of a real room, we worked hard to ensure that the wires were hardly visible. We then drilled holes in the walls, and placed a light behind the walls so that it shone through the holes in order to give the impression of bullet holes. We added to this destroyed effect, by having some of the picture frames on the wall crooked or partially falling down. We were pleased with how the set look, and as we had ensured that the band knew what to wear and what the actors needed, we were happy with what we had to do the next day.

Before we could start shooting, we had to dress the band and make sure that they looked exactly how we wanted them too. Having done this, we applied a small amount of make up to the band members so that their faces wouldn’t appear shiny under the harsh lights. Moreover, we tied back the drummer’s long hair, as we did not want it to obstruct his face while filming. We were happy with how the band looked, and as we had prepared the studio and set the day before, we were ready to start filming. However, there was a gas leak in the studio and as there are numerous cables and equipment, we had to wait for the green light before we filmed. This pushed back our schedule, so we decided (after a short scout around our school grounds for a location that resembled my house) that it would be better to wait until we would have longer to shoot the narrative section of the video.

Finally, we managed to begin filming thus made the last few adjustments to the set. We filled the set with feathers from the ripped pillows and duvet, and then scattered them around the room. We also tore pieces of the wall paper, and stuffed some of the feathers into the cracks shown. Having placed the drummer in the set, we then put feathers on top of the largest symbol so that they would rain down every time he smashed it. We used a crane just outside the line of the camera, and placed a bucket and a fan up there so that we could scatter feathers onto the band when they were playing, to give the effect that the room really had been destroyed.We gave the lead singer a microphone on  a stand, as it drew more attention to him as the 'front man' of the band and helped to centre the camera in the room.  

During the shoot, we divided the roles so that we all got a chance to do something and we decided that we would change the roles on the next shoot, so that everyone got to do something different. I was the director, therefore was in charge of the keeping the shoot on schedule, deciding what shots to film and encouraging the band. As we were running late, I had to ensure that we keep the shoot moving, thus we could not take too much time in between takes. Quickly a routine appeared though, that involved sweeping up the used feathers, placing them back in the bucket ready to use next time and making a comment on the band. I knew that the band would get quite tired as the shoot progressed, thus I tried to encourage them as much as possible so that they would continue to be excited and look alive in the shots. Also, I found that the best way to change something was to first use a compliment and then criticize, so that the band felt comfortable but also meant that we filmed what we wanted too.

We did have a few problems, such as the base player’s strap breaking, and then breaking again so that we had to re-film the wide shot 4 times, as the continuity would have been affected due to us changing the strap each time. Also, the guitarist began the shoot as quite awkward and timid, and this came across on camera. However, after a few takes and encouragement he soon settled into it, and in the end interacted well with other members of the band.

 Overall, the shoot day, despite being very stressful was a success, as the footage we achieved was exactly what we wanted too. The set looked amazing on camera and the band really worked together, so that they gave a group performance instead of individual ones. We worked well together as a group, as we each knew what we had to do and this enabled us to shoot all that we wanted too. I do wish that we had had more time to film the performance element, as it would have taken away some of the pressure to shoot things well the first time, but I think we did well despite this unforeseen event. I was especially happy with how the shoot went, considering that we only had 2 weeks to prepare for the shoot and did not really have a formal story board. Luckily, everything came to together, and I think this is due to us working well as a team.

Having taken numerous still images of the band during the shoot, we decided to focus the website and artwork around some of these images, as it will promote them more than a piece of abstract art.



Front Man:

Front Man: 

Having seen the band interact together, we decided that we wanted to promote the band via a 'front man' and we chose the lead singer for this part. The lead singer had the most charisma, and as he was to star in both the performance and narrative element, we decided that he would be the best choice. As a result, we created the idea of 'Carter James', thus our product would centre around a lead singer, but would also include the other band members. We took inspiration from bands such as The Script and the Kaiser Chiefs, who are bands but also use front men to promote the group. Due to this, we have decided that the website and digi-pak will centre on the lead singer, and we will film and edit the video in a way to ensure that he gains maximum publicity.