My Music Video Review for Beirut - Nantes

http://charliesextonwork.wix.com/edit1

(Couldn't change the name)

My Poster for my Music Video - Beirut - Nantes

My Final Music Video - Beirut - Nantes

Beirut - Nantes from charlie sexton on Vimeo.
Here is my Final edit of my Music video for Beirut - Nantes

My Evaluation Website

http://charliesextonwork.wix.com/evaluation

Class Feedback - First draft production

This is the feedback for my music video for the song 'Nantes' by Beirut. From this feedback i can edit my film and even reshoot if needs be. This is vital in the editing stage because the feedback from the appropriate audience will tell me where i need to improve. (discussion starts at 5:25)


'Beirut - Nantes' Music Video Feedback from charlie sexton on Vimeo.

Class feedback - Ancillaries

I presented my edits for my project to my class so i can get feedback. I did this focus group with the class as they're in my target market. Also with them being media students they will look more in depth into the pieces of work that the audience may not notice. Also the more feedback i get the better my project will be.


Charlie Sexton ancillaries Feedback from charlie sexton on Vimeo.

The poster they picked as the best one was poster number 3. However this still needed improvements. the first comment that was written on the poster is that the text isn't parallel with the background. The text is parallel with the for me of the picture but they would like it parallel with the picture. I will make it parallel with the horizon line. They would like me to change the text at the bottom to white. This would be easier for them to read. This is very important to change as if the audience can't read it then there isn't much point in it.  The text for 'Beirut' and 'Nantes' need to be changed too. They would like to do it in the same style as my other posters with the band being in Black and the song in Green. This makes it easier for the audience to tell what it is. The Song and band text needs to be centred in there thirds. This will give it the golden ratio so they look in the right place. I need to improve the top of the poster as well because where i placed the second layer to get the 2nd place in the photo it's not completely covering the photo. There is a little line what is a different colour. I will patch this over with the clone stamp. This will blend into the photo so it looks like nothing has happened to it.

Editing of the website review

I have started editing my website for where my review will go. I first edited it on photoshop. This is the first edit.

This was my first edit. I decided to do it in the style of Rolling stone. This wasn't a very good design however. The settings on photoshop where ones i wasn't used too so i couldn't do it too my full potential. I then decided to scrap this and use WIX. Wix is a free website designer online. I used the tools available.

This was my first edit of the website design. This is on Wix. As you can see it is in the style of the Rolling Stone more. This was my first try, however i couldn't save this edit as Wix was going under maintenance at the time which i didn't check. Below i have started again and it can be saved this time. You can see i have done more compared to the last edit. I will now get feedback on this to see what i can improve. I have made up some of the stories on the front cover so you can tell i haven't just put a screenshot on there. 

1st edit

2nd edit 

This updated version has got my name and why i am doing this at the top. This is because if anyone gets on this site thinking it is the rolling stone. They can be diverted to the actual site and can see this version is a mock up for my A-level project. to make it easy for people to see the review i'm being marked on i have put these links on each page except from the homepage. If you click on the world 'Review' It will take you to the review. (see below) 

development of Poster designs

These 2 posters are my first drafts. I have decided to get feedback for these so then i can do second drafts. The feedback will put me in the right direction.

 First draft

Second draft 

The first comment i got about my posters to change was the "read review here" and the barcode. It is too close to the edge of the page. I need to think of print marks and crop marks when creating my poster. Some information may be lost if i don't do this. I need to put some room around it so it stands out more also. In the industry they have a bleed and trim marks on the outside. This is done so when the poster is put on display everything within the trim marks wont be cut out. The bleed is a mark is between 2-5mm outside the trim marks. The bleed is there because if the paper moves inside the printing that it still will be able to be trimmed to size without there being any blank spaces. Another comment i got was that it's lacking information on what it is and where to watch it.

Third draft

Language in music reviews and Audience

I analyse music reviews from the publications Rolling Stone, The BBC, and The Vulture. When looking at language the points i have looked at are tone, register, formal/informal, factual, emotive, technical language, sentence structure, bias, persuasive, first or third person, slang used, quotes and language features.

Rolling Stone 

This review is quite formal. The structure of the sentences show this with them being quite long, The use of commas is used loads. This makes the long sentences. There is loads of technical language used in this article. The article quotes the song to give a feel for the album. Another way he has shown who the album is aimed at is the last sentence, "It's a mirror-ball party for all the lonely people". There is some factual information on the album, However he is quite emotive with the language used. An example of this is "Arcade Fire are the most important band of the last decade". He uses alliteration in the review, " A sleek, surging track that seamlessly integrates" This is used for emphasis.

The BBC

This article is quite formal as well. This is on the BBC so they try to please everyone. This is shown when it shows both parts of the argument. It picks out songs which he likes then it pulls apart the album which he then criticise. He quotes other people on the album and what their opinion is on the album. There is loads of technical language used throughout the article. This gives the impression the audience will have a good knowledge of music. The sentence structure is very long, i would say too long. This is because a paragraph in this article is only one sentence. This is done in Third person. 

The Vulture 

Review layouts

I am looking at review layouts on the internet for albums. I have tried looking for reviews for music videos but it's hard to come across. I have got these screen shots of reviews of albums and singles. I have picked The Telegraph, Rolling Stone, The BBC, IMDB, and The Vulture. I have picked these because they aim towards different audiences. These are the screenshots below.

The Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturevideo/musicvideo/10628381/Mike-Oldfield-Sailing-music-video.html

The BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/2563

The vulture

http://www.vulture.com/2010/11/spize_jonze_directs_the_aracad.html

IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1823744/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4

Rolling stone

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/songreviews/reflektor-20130910

These layouts are all quite similar for the different type of companies that they are. However they all have a twist on each other. They're all column based with space either side of the text and articles. This gives the reader space. When looking at websites and reading through articles you don't want it to be full of text side to side. Having the website like this will put off the reader. You do want text but don't want to make it text heavy. They all have a banner with all the hyperlinks on (Hyperlinks e.g. Home, Reviews, News, e.t.c.) The majority of the colour used for these reviews is white. I think this is done so it's easier to read. The BBC has gone for a purple background with a back box and white text. This is not as bright. It makes the text stands out the same as the others but i'm a fan of the background being a different colour. This stands out as being different. It would grab the readers attention by being different then the same as the others. 

Poster research

This is my poster research.

Reflective Evaluation

My deadline is 3 weeks away so a Reflective Evaluation is needed. I have currently done the majority of my research i just need to touch up a few posts what i will do this weekend. I have currently filmed around 1 minute of my final production. The reasons why i have not kept up with the deadline is because i have had problems with my car. My car broke down the day before my filming shoot. This meant that i could only film the shots inside my house. Having my house as a part of the set allowed me to shoot this when i want and overcome any problems with transport getting there. My car is now fixed and i have planned to do a filming shoot next monday. This leaves me a week behind. However i have researched and planned in the meantime. I will also be doing a photo shoot on the day of my filming for the poster and the magazine article. This means that i will be up to date with everything except from editing. So my Outcome is to do all the filming, Photo shoots, and editing before the start of the half term. This leaves me with half term then 1 more week before the deadline. In the half term i will get all my feedback from my audience and do any reshoots/editing if needed.

S - Strengths

• Some of my filming location is at my house so i don't need transport to get there. This is important as my car broke down. 
• I have used the lost time planning and researching. 
• Having a Actor who also is a friend as i can get hold of him easily. 
• As a student with a photography A level, Capturing photos for my poster and magazine reviews shouldn't be to hard. I will apply this knowledge so it will be the best i can produce. 

W - Weaknesses

• Transport broke down so it has set me back from filming when i want to. 
• Missing deadlines for filming 

O - Outcome/opportunity

• I have moved my deadlines around so i can meet them. 
• Being able to edit on my laptop means i can do it in my spare time not just in school hours. 

T - Threats/targets

• Meet all new deadline
• Filming in the best quality takes up more memory and battery so i have to have more than one memory cards and a source of power to recharge the battery.

My final ideas pitch from charliesexton

First pitch for my Music video

charlie pitch 1 from SCHS TV on Vimeo.
This is my pitch for my music video. This was done on the first week back from half term. This was the last week in November. I have picked which song i am doing now which is 'Nantes' by Beruit.

Research and Planning: Magazine Review

This is my prezi on a magazine review on an album. The information i have learnt from this i will apply to my own magazine review.

Production deadlines

Week beginning 6th January - (exam week) Get dates from actor for times for filming, have a test run with the camera so i know how to use it and wont run into any troubles when i'm filming. 

Week beginning 13th January - Start filming, have all shoots planned with storyboards and start editing

Week beginning 20th January - Finish filming, finish editing. 

Week beginning 27th January - Start doing poster drafts and magazine layouts. 

Week beginning 3rd February - get feedback from audience for editing and poster and magazine layouts. Plan reshoots or redrafts if needed. Write up article for the magazine review. 

Week beginning 10th February - make time for reshoots, editing, and making the poster and magazine layouts.


Week beginning 17th February - Half term - exhibition and distribution of 'first cut' of final film and ancillaries shared on digital/social networks for the purpose of focus group feedback

Week beginning 24th February - complete focus group research / complete Blogs / plan final improvements to productions in response to the feedback

Deadline for completed Research & Planning Blogs and First Drafts of Productions is the 28th February (Friday after half term)

Research and Planning: Camera Technology

The camera that i am using to shoot this video is the 'Sony Handycam CX220'.

This camera is very versatile with what it can film. It is a small camera which is a positive as it can be carried around easily and held in hand to shoot with. When filming my video i will be using a tripod so the weight doesn't matter too much. I will be using a tripod as then there is no shaky footage. This will make the shooting look more professional. This cameras built in lens is very good quality. It is a wide angle lens. This is good as it will get everything in the frame. There is a disadvantage to this is that the edges may distort. I will need to think about this when framing my shots. I will be putting all the settings to manual. This will make it harder to film with but then i will know what settings to use for each shoot. I will keep the white balance the same. This is because if the white balance changes throughout the video you will be able to tell. This will look unprofessional. I will try change the settings so it has the lowest ISO but i'm not sure it is possible. Having the ISO the lowest it can will prevent the noise from the footage. The noise from the footage means that it wont have fuzzy parts, due to gramma correction.

Using a tripod i can also do panning shots. This will show of my ability of shot types. When shooting on my camera i'm going to have it on the highest quality setting, This is 1080/60p. This will make my video look the best it can. When shooting in better quality it will make the audience enjoy it more as they will think they have got what they paid for. I will be shooting this footage with a class 10 8gb SD card. 

The reason why i have pointed out this memory card is because it is class 10. When shooting video footage if the quality is over 480p you need a memory card over class 6 to actually capture the footage in that quality. So having this class 10 card will be able to hold the footage and keep it in the best quality possible. 

Character Profile

In my short film there is only 1 character on screen. The main character doesn't have a name. This is because he doesn't need one throughout the short film. I have chosen a male to do the part. This is because it fits in with the male singer of the song. Even though that he doesn't mime in the song it will fit in better. Also in the French conversation in the middle it is a girl splitting up with a boy. So having a boy as the main character fits the story. The man would be better if he was able to drive. He will be around 18 years old. This is because it can relate to the audience better. The audience is around the same age. If the actor can't drive i will have to do shots that look like he's driving when he's not. This is not the best, but it's still possible.

The person i have choosen to play this part is Billy Lewis. He is currently 19 so he is near enough the perfect age for what i want. I picked him to be my actor as he has experience with acting before so he wont be shy infront of a camera. He is 6 ft with a muslcur build. He has black short hair. This type of person is quite common so people could place themselves in his shoes when watching the video. As there will be no talking throughout the video expcept from the phone call he will have to use his body and emontions to show what he's feeling.

Age certificates for music videos and Iconography

I put in a post earlier of the year that i would like my age certificate to be a 12. This is to make the audience larger but still have the ability to swear. For music videos they currently don't have a system to put certificates. This means that i could put anything on my video and anyone could watch it. This is not the aim as i don't think kids under the target audience would not understand the storyline. David Cameron is currently trying to get a system as you can see in this article.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-13639487

This slide share is explaining the certificate i would give my music video and is also about iconnography.

Age certificate and iconography from charliesexton

Example of an A2 music video. Grade - C

This is a music video for 'Laura Marling - Goodbye England'. This was done by Sophie Skinner, an A2 student from 2 years ago.


Sophie Skinner Laura Marling from SCHS TV on Vimeo.

Research and planning: Music video genre research

Music video genres from charliesexton
This is my slide share on music video genres. 

Research and Planning: My target audience

Motivation and Behavior

a.       Why do you watch films?

I watch films for many reasons. I manly watch them for entertainment. I will go see a film if I enjoy the trailer. The trailers are meant to draw you in so a good one can make me go to the cinema to go see it. I also come under the audience theories ‘Uses and gratifications’ and ‘Borrowed interests’. This is because I am into Freestyle skiing. I watch films that include this extreme sport. I watch these because this interests me. I also watch them as I can use them to try new tricks.

     

b.      What qualities attract you?

When looking for a film the actors draw me in. I will watch a film just because a certain actor is in it. For example I’m a big fan of Will Ferrell. I will watch the majority of films that he is in. I watched the film ‘Step Brothers’ as soon as it came out in the cinema. I watch films with him in because I find his comedy funny. His acting in the films he’s in is set for him; I don’t think there is any other actor that can play his part better. I watch some films just because of the company that made it. For example when I watch skiing films I watch the filming company Level 1. This is because they are the best in the market. They get in the best skiers for their films. When you purchase their films you know you will get a good film for the money you paid. When looking for films I also look at the directors and Photographers. I recently brought a film about skiing because the director of Photography was ‘Erik Seo’. He is my favorite photographer as his work is different to others and it is very professional.

c.       How do you consume films?

I consume films in many ways. I have a wide collection of DVDs, However i don't buy many dvds anymore. DVDs are good as they are very portable and can be taken anywhere. The quality is also very good. However i stream films more now. Streaming films of such sies as Netflixs is cheaper than buying dvds. The quality of these films are not as good as dvds (depending on your laptop) however it is worth the money. You can go online and have 1000s of films to watch.  

Research and Planning: Narrative

The Narrative i'm going to look is will be based on a song. I'm going for a style of short film which is based around a song/album. I am going to do a Song as i only have 5 minutes to film it. Here are some ideas for songs to base my short film on. 
I chose these to identify music tracks by bands who don't have established success. This will be harder to do as there isn't many videos from these bands out there. This means it will be harder to get inspiration.

we're going to be friends - white stripes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKfD8d3XJok

This song already has a video. The video is just the singer sitting on a sofa in the front garden of a house playing the guitar and singing while a women is asleep next to him. This song is about starting the singer starting school and meeting a girl called Suzy Lee. As you can tell by the song name it's about the singer wanting to be friends with Suzy.
explain bullet point the narrative of the song then add strengths weakness and reasons for choosing plus the video if there is an existing video use that. If not use another video from the band, if not state this and add something similar

Natty - july

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh5gKHpyylI

This song is about Summer, especially about the month July. This song talks about how they can have fun without a lot of money. The existing video for this is natty walking to the park on a summers day and stuff happens on the way.

Scroobius pip - first time i met muzik

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku8fXmiXbf0

This song doesn't have a video so it's a live one. This song is about how Scroobius pip first met music. He talks about how it is a women and about all the singers that she represents and how.

Arcade Fire - culture war (a song not from the suburbs)

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

This song has no video. This songs about how life is going so fast and how no one knows why we play a culture war.

Jake Bugg - someone told me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhDc_5J_Umw

This song has no video. This song is about how he is always told what to do and what he is. It's also about how he fell in love and is now heart broken and want to know how to love again.

the strokes - ill try anything once

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcze-UD1D4w

This song has no video. This song is about how you go through life. It talks about how you have to pick certian options to make stuff happen.

Beirut - nantes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCkT4K-hppE

This song is about being a place called Nantes. He also talks about a women not being happy so i think he's gone away to get away from things. There is a french conversation in there which i need to work out what it says so i can understand more.

Alex turner - Piledriver Waltz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou1iMvB64oc

(These songs by Alex Turner are from the soundtrack of the film 'Submarine')

This song is about waking up one morning to see his partner leaving him and not coming back. It talks about how it's not a good thing as it's 'heartbreaking'. She's leaving him and wanting to go far away.

Research and planning: what is Narrative and Plot

What is Narrative?
Narrative can be defined as "a chain of events in cause-effect relationships occurring in time and space". This basically is the story within the dietetic world of the film, It starts of in a situation and events can change this situation and make an outcome over time. The narrative covers the story and plot with everything that happens off and on set. 

Narrative Range

Unrestricted narration – A narrative which has no limits to the information that is presented i.e. a news bulletin: This genre has to be very open: Local, National, Global or even universal. although this is  conventional to factual broadcasting some films has come to use this narrative range for example: District 9, 127 hours, Cloverfield, even perhaps the Day After Tomorrow and the latest one, Captain Phillips. The latest one is represented as unrestricted narrative but is Restricted narrative. 

Restricted narration – only offers minimal information regarding the narrative i.e. Thrillers. We only see the world that is constructed by the director. This is restricted as it is only what they want to see. These are usually stories, example of this is Se7en, This is because the story is already written so it is restricted and has to keep too it.  

These can both work to the plot and story. It can give it boarders with the restricted narrative as you know what steps the film is going to follow but you;re not sure who it is going to happen to and when. Films can change the chronological order of these to confuse people and to include such things as flashbacks. 

Opening Title Sequences

This is my analysis of 'Se7en'. I have looked at the conventions of an Opening title sequence. I have also looked at the camera angles, mise-en scene. editing and sound. 

A reflection on my analysis: What have i learned

how successful are they at identifying conventions?

who is the audience?

The film has a 18 certificate so the target market is 18+. I would say it is a

what is the purpose of the presentations?

is the format successful?

did they identify ALL of the conventions accurately?

Research and Planning: Analysis of short films

gasman by Lynn ramsey

Gasman from Holy Cow Productions on Vimeo.

Synoptic
It's the Christmas season. With her mom's help, Lynne, a girl of perhaps eight, dresses up; her younger brother Steven plays with a toy car. The children leave with their dad, who's affectionate with them. They walk down a railroad track where an unkempt woman waits with two children, about the same age as Lynne and Steven. The children go with them. They're all headed to a holiday party at a pub. Lynne notices that the girl acts all too familiar with her dad. What's going on? 


Gasman won Best Short Film at the Cannes Film Fest (Jury Prize), the BAFTA Awards (Scotland), and the Atlantic Film Fest. It was also nominated for Best Short Film at the BAFTA Awards and the Cannes Film Fest (Golden Palm).

Gasman uses diegetic sounds throughout the short film. The music is very symbolic through this. The first song you hear is a Christmas song. This tells you what period of year it is and what the party is for. This film is very stereotypical. This is because the family is very split with the mum and dad not doing stuff together. Also the dad typically takes the kids to the pub so he can see his mates instead of spending time with them. The music that is on in the pub has the lyrics 'Wheres your father gone'. This related to the story-line. It links up for when the main little girl asks the other girl to get off her daddy's lap. When the other little girl replies she doesn't get it. This shows that she doesn't know about her dads second family. 

EIGHT by stephen daldrey
Billy elliot 

A day in the life of an eight-year-old soccer fan who has to come to terms with living in a strange new town and the loss of his father.

13 mins, colour 

The short & curlies by Mike Leigh

A shop girl and her admirer struggle to find love and some common ground. This early signature comedy by Mike Leigh, starring David Thewlis and Alison Steadman, saw Leigh collaborate with many of the cast and crew he has gone on to work with throughout his career. The film was the first in Channel 4’s series of short films to which it lent its name.

The Suburbs - Arcarde Fire (Short film) (draft)

For my short film i would like to look at doing one based on a music album. This won't be a music video but a short film which represents what the music album wants to and has a story plot to it. An example of this is 'The suburbs' by Arcade Fire, The band made a 30 minute short film with there album as a soundtrack and the storyline based around the album 'The suburbs'. The director to this was Spike Jonze.
Scenes From The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
http://www.alluc.to/movies/watch-scenes-from-the-suburbs-2011-online/311760.html

Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f49yRhJ0NjI&feature=player_embedded

This short film has the same idea as 'Scenes From The Suburbs' as it is a short film for an album. This short film is animated however so these 2 short films have contrasts. 

Research & Planning: textual analysis (draft)

George Lucas In Love by Joe Nussbaum (1999)

Synoptic
George Lucas has 3 days to finish a script to graduate from college. He has no ideas so he decides to walk to the theature to gather some ideas. On the way he bump into loads of people who remind you of people that are in 'Star Wars'. When he arrivies to the theature he meets a girl called Marian (with her hair done up in buns on the sides of her head) who encourages him to write what he knows and feels.



Georges Lucas In Love from Fitzcairn on Vimeo.

This short film is a Romanic comedy. The opening starts with george lucas writing on a typewriter, he writes he start of what is on the actual Star Wars. This short film is a good parody on Star wars with the intertexual references. It has diegetic and non diegetic sounds, the non diegetic sounds make the atmosphere different. this short film is good for post modernism.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203523/

Day break express by D.A. Pennebaker (1953)

This short is film is based around a train journey from sunrise to sunset at the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City, America. This 5 minute short film was the first film that Pennebaker made, it is under a documentary genre as it shows a journey. 

This short film has non diegetic music over the top, this means that the music has been put in from another source. The music is ambient so it gives you a certian feel for it when watching it. It is filmed in colour which is quite early and it is developed very well. The journey is filmed very well the camera play is very different. It's like he has experimented with his angles. This is filmed during the end of modernism so you can see how he is experimenting and how the genres and times are changing. He is filming in new york so you can see the developing building and how everything's getting bigger and changing. 

Short Film Lesson

The last man on earth

Synopsis

A man thinks he is the last man alive on earth. He has coped for 5 weeks with it and he's had enough. So he goes to the local pub and decides to record himself talking about how he's the last man on earth and how he has made a mixture which will kill him. He drinks the poison and swallows it. Once he's done that his phone rings. 

The genre of this short film is a comedy, however you also can call it post apocalyptic. The way the story is told is through narration. The narration is done by the main man. The representations what is given of this man is that he is very weak and depressed. He is weak as he's only been looking for other people for 5 weeks. Another representation you could say is that he is an alcoholic, when you see him in the pub he has already drunk half a bottle of vodka and he doesn't look that drunk. He is quite educated as he knows where to find the ingredients for a mixture and what ingredients to put in it. There isn't much intertextual references but it does show an iPhone but i don't think it was placed deliberately. The locations used looks like a well built up suburb, it reminds me of London, however there is no big buildings to show where it is. The likely audience are film seekers. I think it would be a male audience who find films instead of waiting for them to come out. 

About a girl 

4 Short Films Rivaling from matthew pettifer