Making the props

Today i have made props to go in my animation in my video. This is pieces of paper with writing on it. I had to do this a few times to make sure the font was big enough and it looked the way i wanted to.

Coin animation practice

I practised doing my first animation to have a go on the edit sweet and to see if it would work in my video. I used a build up of coins.

Cast List

• Hollie Jones - I will be using one person in my film as it is a naritive and it is a story about her day.
• Alex Ward ,Beth Hairsine, Danielle Collins - these are not going to be the main focus in the video but they are going to act as friend of 'hollies'
• Random people in town - As i am filming in town i expect random people to be walking by whilst i am filming but this will make it look more realistic.

Location list

• Hull paragon train station - I am using this the song is called torn on the platform and there will be trains arriving and departing frequently.
• Hull city center - I will be filming through town as i need shots of shops.
• My home - I will be filming in my home when i do my animatic

Prop List

• Fur coat - This gives the an impression of an old fashioned era as this is the type of clothes they wore and also it shows it is cold out side.
• Heels - I am using high heels as i want to make it look as though she got stood up at the train station and she was ready for a date and to go out.
• Umbrella - I am using an umbrella as it has reference to 'dry' so i am using it as an umbrella is something that will keep you dry.
• Bags - I need bags when they are going through town and shopping.
• Train - A train will be in the backing of the shots as it is called 'torn on the platform' so parts will be filmed in a train station.
• Paper - I need paper for the animation part of my video
• Pen - I need a pen to draw my animation
• 50 Pence piece - There is a lose up shot i am using in my video as it referrers to it in the song lyrics '50p to the tramp makes me feel kind'
• Clock - I am using a close up of the clock when it referrers to the time in the song.

Audience research

I have done a poll on my blog to get more people to do it. i sent it in a message to my close friends and also wrote it as a status to get others i have on facebook to fill it in. The more people i could get to do it the better my research would be.

These images above show that i have asked people to fill in my poll over the social networking website, facebook.

After getting my feed back from my poll, I made graphs to show my results.

This graph shows that all the people that did my poll are ages 16-19. This shows me that this is the target audience for my video and this is who i am aiming it at.

This shows me that it is more for a female target audience as only 1/8 males voted in my poll.

This pie chart shows me that the majority of people are a big fan of acoustic and indie music as it is the most popular in the poll. Folk music seemed the most unpopular following mainstream. As i wanted to do something my audience would like i chose an indie song as this seemed very popular.

I wanted to know what subject people were most interested in as i think that people who are most interested in creative subject would be a lot more likely to enjoy music and watch music videos in their subjects such as media. I found out that the majority of people were interested in creative subjects so it gave me the impression that i was targeting the right people.

I wanted to find out what people thought made a music video successful so then i could focus on this to make it look like an actual music video. 1/3 of the votes said the content of the video is what made it successful. This then let me know that what i filmed must be useful as this was the most important.

Now knowing that the content of the video is important i wanted to know what type they preferred. It came out that they liked performance in a music video so i figured that this must be compulsory in mine as i want my audience to enjoy it.

Story board

I have done a story board to plan what is going to be in my video.

Analysis of lyrics - Torn on the platform Jack penate

I have analysed my music video lyrics to help me have a better idea of what I am doing. I have timed the lines to see how long I will have for each shot and wrote a brife idea of what is going to happen in the music video on each line.

I have set most of my video in the tarin station as it is what the song is about and a good setting. I am also going to put in some animation into my video so it isnt just a naritive. I think this will be very affective as there are many diffrent effects that can be used.

Developing Skills

Describe how you develop you skills in the use of digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.           

In my first year I created a magazine for my AS Portfolio. With this I was able to develop a range of skills using digital technology. The first skill I learnt was how to take a good image using a digital camera. This is because I learnt about the different shots and angles and how they can be perceived. For example a picture taken from a low angle can give the impression that the person is dominant and have authorities. Having known more about this I was able to use this on my front cover of my magazine. I took the image from a slight low angle so it showed that they were more dominant and it gives them confidence in the picture. I then was able to develop my images through Photoshop.

 At first I had to learn how to use Photoshop and get to know the basics of it. Such as adding text to the image to make it look like a real magazine. I was able to change the font size and the colour of the font and choose a font that followed the theme of my magazine. When I got the hang of Photoshop I was then able to edit my images for example change the colour and contrast of the image. This is what I did to my front cover image as I wanted the main images in the photo to stand out like the models in the image and the red guitar. This was because it was my main colour theme and it also make it more clear what the genre of my magazine was. I did this by using the ‘wand’ tool to select parts of my image and I was able to fade the colour and cut parts of the image out that wasn’t wanted. On the contents page I wanted an image to be the full background but it would have been difficult to see the writing so I decided to make the picture look ‘washed-out’. So I was then able to see the text over the image.

Another form of digital technology that I used was blogger. This was so I could keep a diary of what I had been doing and kept all my work together as I uploaded it all onto their. This was very helpful as it showed all my progress that had been made with my magazine. I was also able to upload my images before and after my edits to show my development. On blogger I was also able to create my own poll to see what other people thought of my ideas. This helped as I was aiming it at my target audience so I got feedback on what they thought. 

On the computer I used word in two ways. My first was to make a layout of my front cover and what I wanted it to be set out like. This is so I could get an idea in mind what I wanted the layout to be like and were everything was going to be placed on my magazine. The second way in which I used word was in my evaluation. I used it to make graphs to evaluate my magazine. I handed out a questionnaire asking them questions about themselves and also about what they thought of my magazine so I could get audience feedback. 

I think that I developed many of my skills in the year of my AS and I will be using them to help me with my A2 work this year.

My song lyrics

Torn on the platform - Jack Penate

Once more just before Im leaving
Torn on the platform
Once more just before Im leaving
Torn on the platform
Cos Ill miss you and I love you
I know this is over just for mow
Cos I miss you, ohh, how I miss you
Youre not my girl you’re my town
A weekend away, leave the city today
Dont want the big smoke to leave me behind
The train leaves at 2, platform 3 Waterloo
50 p to the tramp makes me feel kind
I get a good seat , with a table my feet
Are up on the one in front everyone stares
Why do they care, like theres feelings in chairs
Trapped for 3 hours until I get there
Cos my
Eyes, eyes, eyes
Are not
Dry, dry, dry
As I
Realise, ise, ise
That in a few minutes this train will be gone
Sighs, sighs, sighs
City
Fly’s, fly’s, fly’s
Wonder
Why, why, why
Would anyone want to leave where I come from?
Torn on the platform
Torn on the platform
Torn on the platform
It’s 1.58 wish that I had been late
And missed the train and given them an excuse
But what is the use, I’ve less slack than a nouse
Do or die stay or go what shall I choose
Cos my
Eyes, eyes, eyes
Are not
Dry, dry, dry
As I
Realise, ise, ise
That in a few minutes this train will be gone
Sighs, sighs, sighs
City
Fly’s, fly’s, fly’s
Wonder
Why, why, why
Would anyone want to leave where I come from?
Torn on the platform
Torn on the platform
Torn on the platform
Like in a film the motion starts to slow
As the beeping carriage doors begine to close
Momenterily I’m standing froze
Then I jump between the gap
Land on the platform flat
I’m not
Torn on the platform
Torn on the platform
Torn on the platform

Textual Analysis of the train image

Textual Analysis of the train image

Media Representations
This image represents the song, as the title of the song I am doing is ‘torn on the platform’. In the picture it is black and white and this can sometimes give the impression that the mood is dull and nothing ever really stands out and it’s always the same. It also looks very empty on this picture and gives a sense of loneliness and you can tell that the train is moving out of sight as the train is giving off smoke.  I think it is shown like this as it is supposed to be set a long time ago before electric trains came out. You can tell that this was set a long time ago by the street lights and the train itself. The

Media Language and Forms

The denotative meaning of this picture is simply just a train at a platform in the station. The connotative meaning could be that even though picture also looks beautiful so it could represent that even though the train is going there is so much more out there to see. It also could mean that all good things come to an end as now the train is going to leave and there will be nothing and the picture would be pointless. The significance of this is to make people think how to appreciate things a lot more.  Because the image is black and white it also gives a feeling that it is an old picture because it is in black and white but this could have been done purposely as black and white can make the picture look more pure as there are no harsh colours in it. As this is a picture it is all a none verbal structure I think it is purposely set out to look as though the train track go down parallel as this looks like the train will go off into the distance into nowhere. Also the setting in the background is just trees and it looks as though they are in the middle of knower which can also symbolise peace as they are the only ones around but to contrast this it can also mean loneliness. The dominant image in the text is the train and I think the relevance of this is to show you are actually at a train station as if the train wasn’t there it wouldn’t be clear were you was. The main images are also to the left and the right of the picture, leaving the empty platform as center focus I think this is to show how far in the distance the train will be travelling.

Media Values and Ideology

I think the media values of this picture are that the most siplest things can be beautiful and also that there is so much more out their see and that’s were they are going, to see the world not just staying in there home town.

Media Audiences

I think that the audience for this picture could be anyone really. As it could appeal to older people such as 60 as obviously this picture is very old fashioned and it shows you how an old train used to look and they could relate to this and how it used to be and how things have changed through time. I also this a younger audience would like this as it really beautiful and delicate and shows how things used to be

Texual analysis - James Morrison You make it real.

Textual analysis – James Morrison ‘You make it real’

Media Representation

I think this song represent anyone who is in love. It is about that one person who keeps you ‘real’ when so much is going on in life and that nothing really means anything unless you have someone to share it with. I think in the video James Morrison has been represented as quite lonely as he is always by himself, he has been represented like this as it goes with the song, ‘that’s why iv been missing you lately’ it shows that they are apart. I think that him being the song writer/his own institution. The lyrics are what he has interpreted and will mean something that has happened in his life.

Media Language and Forms

The denotative meaning of this video is that ‘you make it real’ a girl obviously makes him feel secure and allows him to be his self. He needs her because he is lonely in his busy world.  The connotative meaning of this video could mean that nothing really matters unless you have someone to share it and it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks because no one knows him like her. Everyone will have a soul mate you just need to find them. ‘Everybody’s talking, in words I don’t understand. You are the only one who knows just who I am’ he feels as though everyone surrounding him doesn’t understand the person he is and even though people surrounding him knows English he doesn’t understand there morals or what they believe. All he believes in and understands is this girl. In the video at 1.38 the background is blurred out and it just focuses on him. This empathises the loneliness and how he stands out from everyone else because his emotions have taken over him.

Narritive

The narrative in this video

Textual Analysis – Ed Sheeran A team

Textual Analysis – Ed Sheeran A team

Media representaion

This video represent a young girl who is struggling and isn’t able to pay rent and is living on the streets and has now turned into prostitution to pay for the drug habit that she has got and recently she seems to be deteriorating and she used to have so much potential. IT does this by the lyrics of the song and also it shows her sleeping on a park bench in the video and her selling a big issues in the streets. It then shows her getting dressed up and getting into a car which is obviously prostitution as in the next scene you see her with a man and her taking money. She then goes and has a bag of white powder which is obviously the drugs. She is being represented in this way as this video shows how some people choose to live their lives and how an addiction can take over the person you are and not everyone lives a good life. I think that this can be an unfair representation as not all people who are taking drugs are like this and need to prostitute themselves for money although I think this can be a very realistic view of some people’s lives. I think that in this they may be a little self-representation by the subject but this would be from experiences he has had in his life and a self-reflection of the things he has witnessed and how he thinks life would be if he was in that situation.

Media Languages and Forms

The denotative meanings of this video are that the girl is homeless and is prostituting herself for drug money. The connotative meaning of this video is that everyone is in different situations in life and you shouldn’t judge people if you see them in the street as it might not be what they seem. It also could mean that everyone chooses their own direction in life and it is not always what is expected. This is significant as it gives the song a lot more meaning and makes people think about other people not only themselves. The facial expression of the girl is very sad and on edge until at the very end when she has got her drugs. Also the props used such as the sleeping back she has on, the big issue she is selling and also the clothes she is wearing all show that she is living on the streets and isn’t having a wash. The way in which the video is filmed it looks as though it has been filmed with a hand held camera as it isn’t very steady. I think this is done as an effect as it makes the young girls world look unsteady and unstable. At 54seconds through the film there is a low angle shot of the girl looking up into the sky with her arms out as if she had wings like and angel. The mise-en-scene at 1.32 minutes through the video shows how busy other people’s lives are and how life is passing her by as people are rushing around whilst she is concentrating on the flowers. The train station behind her is called ‘angel station.’ The connotation of this is that she is leading the wrong path of life and it is as if it’s the way to the angels- to heaven and she is so close to it. There is then a pan shot of a sign saying ‘improving the angel’ this is as if there is a sign to her that she needs to improve her way of living. She is always central focus of the video and even when the streets are very busy she has lighting on her to stand out almost like and angel.

Narrative

The narrative in this music video is linear structured as the beginning of the story starts with the girl being homeless and it shows you what happens through her days then finally what she has to do on the night time to get the drugs. The story is quite simple although very effective as it is a very meaningful storyline and very realistic to what some people’s lives are like. The audience are able to relate to this as something similar may have happened in their lives or they may be intrigued by the video as they haven’t experienced anything like this and don’t really understand how different people can live their lives and what extremes people will go to, to get drugs. There is only really one character in this video and she is seen in both perspectives. I think one side of her she looks harmless and people will sympathise for her as she is living on the streets and in every clip she is always shown alone. Also when she is sat on the floor in her sleeping bag the camera angle is above her showing her innocence. The other side can be very deceitful as you see her pinching money out of the man’s pocket and going to take her drugs what most people in society look down on. There are a lot of values within this video and I think the main ideology of this video is that everybody leads a different life and you never know what people are going through before you judge them.

Genre

This text links to a few genres Acoustic/folk/indie. I would say that the main genre of this song is acoustic. I think that this video has lot of conventions of an acoustic video as they usually have a lot of narrative built in with emotion and this video shows someone’s life and how she is on a spiral downwards. It is very meaning full and it seems real to the audience as it is a real life situation that some people are going through. I think the song writer Ed Sheeren may have some association with this in his life as he sings it as though it means something to him.

Media Institutions

Ed Sheeran is signed to Atlantic Records who are a, since 1967, a subsidiary of warner brothers. The purpose of this institution is to sell records. They are a commercial institution. Ed Sheeran began recording in 2005. When this song was released ed sheeran was not signed to anyone and started off playing at small venues and gigs. He then got spotted by Jamie Foxx and began to record properly. His fan base grew and he gained mainstream attention after collaboration with such people like Wiley and Devlin. At the beginning of April 2011 Ed was signed to Atlantic Records. Now that he is signed to them he is able to be promoted a lot more as they have a lot more money to spend on him and is able to get him bigger venues to play out. This piece of text has been broadcasted on the internet via YouTube and is on all the music channels. The song is also on his album.

Media Values and ideology

The values of this video is to show people how others may live and you shouldn’t judge people as you don’t know what they’re going through. She’s in the class ‘a-team’ things were expected for her but now she has turned to drugs and if she carries on the way she is going she could be with the angles as it killing  her. She is going through a rough time selling herself for money and it shows people the reality and world we live in.

Media Audiences

I think the audience for this piece of text is 16-35. I think it is targeted at such a wide audience because I think the older audience maybe able to relate to this song because of personal experiences. Also I think it is targeted at the younger end of the scale as they are the ones more likely to listen to the mainstream music and are more likely to download, and buy the cds. This is because they have more expenditure and are more into the music.

History of music videos

Music videos haven’t always existed. The purpose of a music video is to promote  the artist and the album through the video using either narrative, performance, animation or abstract.

In the fifties they didn’t have music videos artist made films to promote their music. In 1956 Elvis Presley brought out two films ‘Rock around the clock’ and ‘The girl can’t help it’. Elvis didn’t like to tour  so the easiest way to promote his music was through a film, a musical so his song could be heard. All other rock and roll artists were seen as a threat. This is because Elvis was seen as king of rock and roll but he was worldwide and had lots of expenditure to spend on films. Elvis went into the army but kept his exposure alive as his films were still being released.

By the early sixties there was a new generation of teenagers who were challenging the values of their parents and wanted to lead their own path in life and questioned others views. This brought out a new attitude towards music. 1964 The Beatles brought out the film ‘Hard day’s night’ directed by Dick Lester. They sold over 1 billion records. They created their own unique image of how they wanted to be perceived. It was a narrative as it was a film although there was a lot of performance involved as that is what the audience wanted to see. They used close-ups to promote the stars. The year after the Beatles brought out their second film ‘Help!’ There were a lot more group shots, it created and image as the Beatles became iconic and people saw them as idols. In the same year Bob Dylan brought out a film ‘Don’t look back’ it was a documentary on English tour directed by D.A Pennabaker. Bob Dylan was one of the first to write his own songs. 1967 on boxing day the beatles brought out a new film ‘i am the walrus’. They interperate the song lyrics within the video for example they are dressed up as walruses. The really challenge the establishment in this video and show their rebellious side as they are singing ‘uppa lumpa stick it up your jumper everybody smoke pot’ it shows that they are going against the norm of society. In 1972 david bowey brought out a film space oddity what was very much a performance video with elements of abstract. It is very futuristic as he was trying to promote his own image, and losts of close ups of him looking into the camera was used. It was the first video to be filmed in a studio and their was  a lot of use of red lighting for effect.

In 1973 the first 2 inch video tape came out and in 1975 Queen made a video – Bohemian Rhapsody. It was ver much glam rock and good performance. There was costume changes, different lighting and part were filmed at a low angle to give the impression of dominance. The colours of the lighting on the video also determined the mood of the song. This was number one for 9 weeks and cost £5000 to make the video. This was very expensive at the time. Progressing with the use of props and costume Peter Gabriall brought out sledge hammer in the early 80s. It was very surreal and had a variety of animation.

Then came along Michel Jackson – Thriller in 1984 this became the second biggest selling album it included a long narrative and performance. It was presented like a short film and had lots of the typical horror film conventions. This includes the graveyard, night time, eery music deep voice and the innocent girl. This is intertexual as it is referring to other media texts such as a horror film. Shortly after in the late 80s beautiful south brought out – the song for whoever. They used a narrative and also had elements of performance. They used humour but also made a point of that within the music industry you don’t have to be able to sing to be a star. Fat boy slim then brought out a video in the 90s – right here what told the story of evolution throughout the video that also introduced humour into it. He changed music videos drastically as he didn’t star in his own video and most of the video was computerised.

George Michael also used humour as in his video – outside he was playing on his own media image of what the media had be saying about him. It had reference to the toilet and the police and also his arrest and how he feels about it. It also had gay references within the video. 

R.E.M at the beginning of the 90s brought out losing my religion. The lyrics of this song were about the belief system in religion being shattered, as they were building their own wings in the video. The glass smashed on the floor to represent the shattering of religion. This is because at the time people were challenging beliefs and religion. There was a good interpretation of lyrics in visual form.

Radio Head in the late 90s - street spirit. It was abstract and verys much into art throughout the video.  His other video – no surprise also followed this theme of being abstract but in a different way as the man was drowning and the lyrics were backwards.

Wezer brought out a music video – buddy holly. They were a 90’s band although they have a lot of intertextual references to the TV program happy days from the 70s what is suppose to be set into the 50s. They copies buddy holly by his dress sense as it gave the video humour as it shows how so much has changed.

Oasis also did the same thing in the video – importance of being idol as it was a black and white narrative and it was very 60s style. It referred to the British social realism and showed the working class like that wasn’t focused on at all up until the 60s. Only upper and middle class was focused on the TV and the lower class were to be perceived as stupid. Lots of props were used in the video and it had an intertexual reference to Saturday night Sunday morning what was made in the 1960s and also coronation street. This was just before The Beatles were their was two different generations and believe that the older generation have a lot more morels.

Coming up to date blink 182 – all the small things was parodying all forms of music videos for humour. They were under minding the music industry and the audience found this humerous.

Nirvana – in bloom also has references to the 60s and The Beatles. It shows the fans screaming after them what was the same in The Beatles first film. They also used black and white to make it look like the 60s. The only thing that made it different was the genre of music and what they sing about. This is because we are influenced from things that are around us so the text producer will have a difference perception on things then what The Beatles did.

Music videos have changed drastically as things have improved through technology greatly and this has made it more accessible to be able to make a music video and also people views on things has made different genres in the music industry and people are singing about different things.

Production Brief

In my advanced a2 portfolio i will be producing a promotion package for a music video including music video that i will create and produce individually. I will also be making he cover for its release as part of a Digpak and also a magazine advertisment for the Digipak.