Group vlog: change of idea update

Here is a quick group vlog, discussing our recent change in idea. We explain why we have chosen to omit the footage of Tayla in the forest, and the Little Red Riding Hood theme in our music video. We also give a quick summary of what we have left to do in terms of filming and editing.

Sixth filming day: location 3

Today we filmed in our third location again. We have made use of another mirror, emphasizing the notion of looking throughout our video. Here are some more stills from filming:

In the shot below, we have used minimal lighting to cast shadows over Tayla, in accordance with the lyric 'dancing in the shadows'. We have now lip synced to the whole song in each location and we therefore have a wide range of shots to incorporate in our video.

Inspirational TV series: American Horror Story (2011-)

Here are the opening credits of the first 3 seasons of American Horror Story, a supernatural thriller/horror television series. I really love the use of fast-paced editing and the jittery quick cuts. I also like the use of lowkey lighting and occasional flashes, which startle the audience causing disorientation. Most disturbing shots have a short duration, which creates an enigma. This is something we could think about when editing our music video, as we plan to edit to the beat - the tempo of our song picks up in the instrumental parts which could be filled using a choppy montage of shots, like the opening credits above.

Creative decision making

Here is a list of creative decisions we plan to do in the construction of our music video:

• Switching to a monochrome colour palette with high saturation to show binary opposites and conflicts
• Overlay shots with a smoky effect linking to the lyrics of our song
• Circle framed shots to draw attention to our performer, creating star image
• Combination of fast and normal paced editing, synchronized with the tempo of the song
• Using a variety of camera angles and handheld shots to create verisimilitude

Editing: circle border

One of our hardest tasks in the editing process so far was getting Tayla into a circle border, as seen in Banks' Brain video. This is because our main editing software is iMovie, however the only 'picture in picture' shape available is a small rectangle. Fortunately, we also have access to Adobe Premiere and (using a tutorial we found online) we have therefore been able to create the effect we desire:
 

example using footage from the forest

Here is the tutorial we found, which helped us achieve this:

We can also alter the colour and quality of both layers of footage in both iMovie and Adobe Premiere, allowing us to have full control over how the background and foreground look. We have a wide range of raw footage which we can use as a background in this shot, which we are currently playing around with, to adhere to the lyrics of our song/narrative.

Ancillary task: introduction to magazine advertisements

In today’s lesson, we were introduced to our second ancillary task, the production of a magazine advertisement. Magazine adverts serve to promote new album releases, often conveying star image to create a greater appeal for the artist and subsequently boost record sales.

General conventions of magazine covers include:

• Album title
• Name of artist/band
• Images e.g album artwork, photographs, graphics
• Release date e.g iTunes
• Out now/debut album/limited edition tags
• Tour dates
• Slogan/tagline
• Social media links e.g Official webpage, Twitter, Facebook, Q Code
• Available outlets e.g HMV, Amazon, Tidal
• Product content e,g extra DVD footage
• Bonus tracks and no.1 singles
• Reviews and endorsements e.g NME, Kerrang, Q, Guardian Music Monthly Review
• Record label logo/information

Here is a brief analysis of Gwen Stefani's magazine advertisement for her debut studio album Love. Angel. Music. Baby  (2004):

Roland Barthes: Narrative Codes theory

Below is a slideshare, explaining Barthes' Narrative Codes' theory. This sees that there are 5 main codes which describe the meaning of a text:

• Hermeneutic/enigma code 
• Proairetic/ action code 
• Semantic code 
• Symbolic code 
• Referential code 

Our narrative can be explained using this theory...

• Enigma code - presence of the hooded figure
• Action code - shots of the figure following our performer create suspense 
• Semantic code - how the figure is linked to the performer and how this is intepreted
• Symbolic code - what the forest, window and mirror shots symbolize as well as the figure
• Referential code - some may see the link between our hooded figure and the character 'A' in Pretty Little Liars and links between other media texts which present similar themes