Some Screen Shots..

FEEDBACK from other groups

Genre:
supposedly a typical girl pop song, upbeat although shes breaking up the relationship and dating are similar to the pop girl genre.

Relationships: cathedral in background when the organ is playing shows the visual relationship with the music.

Camerawork: spinning shot was good

Editing: good effects go well with pace

Mise-en-scene: coffee shop fits in with the modern sound of the song but extras in the background could of been more carefully thought of

special effects: good transitions.

Comments..

Many people liked our video,
And after seeing all the other videos ours is defintiley like none of the others.
This is good as it shows our originality and that was part of the reason why we chose the song in the first place.
=)

There were parts in the video where we weren't happy with, but no drastic issues.

Final Videoo..

The Final Product..!

Final Feedback from Final Version of Music Video

Our entire media class sat down and we all watched each other's music video a final time..this time in its finished staged...by watching each others we give feedback on other groups performances as well as our own...commenting on the 5 key elements..

1) Generic Conventions..
2) Performance & Mise-en-Scene
3) Lip Syncing
4) Coherant Narrative
5) Editing, Camera Work & FX

Everyone commented on all these aspects on ours...

*saying that our lip synching was really good and the performance worked well with the miming so it worked.
*our narrative wasnt boring and made a lot of sense in relation to the song...
*the camera work was good though in some areas shakey but the spinning around the couple worked in our favour
*coffee stills were good and held a good symbolisis in regards to the couple's relationship..

Final Stages of Editing

We've taken on board the comments that we recieved on our feedback for the roughcut and we hope to apply it into our final editing of the video...We have stripped our video bare and started adding shots again and our main aim for the first part is to align it all up in lip syncing. Afterwards we plan to edit the individual shots and add any necessary transitions of video FX..e.g. colour corrector as suggested by Barney..to make our video much more interesting and take on a more abstract element. Also we are going to add more shots of Megan dancing into areas of the video so as to deter ourselves from making the video too literal...We have very little time and so we are making the most of what we have..all members of the group have booked a late night editing session on a monday...and so we hope to get the majority of the work out the way...

Clocks ticking....

Rough Cut Feedback

All of the other groups have now watched and commented on our video. They have left points of improvement as well as commenting on their favorite parts of it.

Camerawork:
People have said that we have a good variety of shots. People also commented on too many close ups as well. The opinion of the reverse shot was mixed with 2 groups liking it and 2 not. The groups also commented on too many looks at the camera when not signing directly to the camera.

Editing:
People said that the pace matched the song, although another group found it boring. Another group complemented the close-ups and another view was that there should have been more shots overall. People also said that some shots were too long and could be replaced with cut-aways.

Effects:
People were complementary of the effects saying that there was a good amount but not too over the top. Again, the reverse was subject to varying opinions. Another group said that we could have used more effects to lighten up the video. Many people seemed to have missed the special effects on the ducks when they were reversed though.

Mise-En-Scene:
One group commented that they thought the Mise-En-Scene was amateur although they did like us using the coffee shop though. People were also complementary on the setting, saying that it suited the song although another group thought that we could have used a more interesting setting however.

Performance:
All groups commented on how good the lip-syncing was. Most groups also commented on how well the ducks also performed although it did confuse some people watching the video as they were not sure their part in the video.

Overall, the feedback was positive and it has also given things that we will now try to help improve our video as well as highlighting the parts of the video that worked and we may now think about improving their part in the video.

Rough Cut of our video...

Shooting Take 3..

On Monday (8//10/07)
Megan Harlee & Tom, went to Ely to reshoot the footage of the opening and ending and more of the abstract shots.

We went to the coffee mill and asked permission to shoot some footage for our media coursework and they were more than happy to help.

So we began filming at The Coffee Mill in Ely.
*Opening. This was an establishing shot of the Coffee Mill moving towards a close up of Megan and Tom from outside.
*An inside shot of Megan and Tom talking - and then Megan getting up to walk away.

Move To Outside..
* A shot of Megan walking out of the Coffee Mill..
This can be used for our reverse shot.
* A shot of Megan walking towards the camera looking very angry.

Inside..
*Back to the table..
Megan and Tom talking. Megan singing the song.
Mid Shot & A close Up Of this.

Shots of the Tea/Coffee cups, the amount of tea shrinking.

* Long shot of Tom approaching the coffee mill.
*Then a long shot of megan coming from a different direction.
* Shot of them meeting and walking into the cafe.
This will be our ending shot.


Market Square..
This is where had there have been more people we would have used a bubble shot. Capturing the people walkin around Tom and Megan.
*Megan and Tom together standing with their arms around each other. Completely absorbed with one another.
* Trackin around in a circle.


Cathedral..
This can be used for some relaxed shots of Tom and Megan together.
*Walking along together, holding hands.
*3rd Chracter.. possibly the other girl.

Riverside..
*Shot of Megan and Tom Feeding the ducks.
* Sitting having a picnic. Variety of Shots.
* Sitting on a wooden bench, where mmegan was lip syncing.


All the shots went really well..
Now we just have to piece them together so we create our masterpiece!!
We shall see...

A special thanks to Tom for making the effort and coming along to be Lloyd..
We really apprecate it!!

Shooting Part 2

We tried to get started on the filming of the begining and the ending of the video. We decided to try and film in cambridge as everyone could make it. We used the starbucks coffee shop in market street to film as they have chairs and tables outside for us to use. We got some good shots of the pair talking and then breaking up as weel some shots of megan walking away from the coffee shop and along rose crescent. Overall, It went really well and we got most of the footage and just now need to film the end as well as some of the more specific shots e.g the bubble and the idea with the refilling and the emptying of the coffee cups.

Shoting Part 1

Filming went really well..
We got loads of great shots!!
And some very embaressing ones of megan =P
But she did really welll.. =D
So we're part way there.. We still have a lot of filming to do, such as the begining and the end.
We also have to shoot the parts such as the bubble.
We are going to go to town tomorrow to try and get the begining filmed.
So again hopefully the weather will be good..=)

Shooting

We are planning on shooting some of the shots tomorrow (2/10/07). We are aiming to get all of the solo shots. I.e. Megan singing in various locations. We're a bit worried about the weather. But We'll hope for the best and go ahead regardless.
We're also hgoping to shoot the coffee cups and the coffee decreasing/ filling up within the cafe.
The ducks will also feature and become famous (= .
We are hoping to get shots of Megan singing at the river, around the cathedral, underneath a marquee, walking down a street and also wandering around ely.
These shots can then be cut to throughout the musiv video where appropriate.
We can only get the shots of Megan as Tom, Lloyd cannot make it tomorow as he has work.

We havent particularly got specific costumes as the video is in a fairly normal setting. Normal/Usual clothing will suit the video fine.

So Goooodd Luuccckkk..

Mise-En-Scene

It's to be shot in Ely, The Coffee Mill. The couple, Jo and Lloyd, will be located in their initial shot in the cafe sitting at the table closest to the window. We'll be using the cafe's table, chairs and coffee mugs as our main props as this will be the centre point as to where the break up conversation will occur. We may include several extras, such as customers and staff members in the coffee shop, should we use a long shot. But our main focus is on the couple, so a medium close up is the likely choice. The characters costumes will be everyday clothing to suggest that unlike the original video this is set in modern day and is more approachable to this generation. Jo will be captured on film wearing a variety of tops to suggest that shots do occur at different times and also it will look more interesting than if she was filmed throughout wearing the same clothing. At certain points during the video, we will be filming ducks in the pond in Ely to give a more abstract element to our music video when we add in our choice of effects. Also this will go to show that we are not focusing too hard on the narrative part of the track or being too literal with the lyrics.

We have shots of where Jo walks out of the shop and onto the adjoining roads, past several of Ely's finest shops. And several of shots will be located in the shadow of Ely's only famous landmark, the cathedral.

There will be no diagetic sound as we don't want to take the focus away from the song, which is our only non-diagetic sound.

The shots will be taken during the day, natural light is used so it doesn't appear too bright or fake as would be the case if using lamps or generated lights. We do not know what the weather will be like, of course if it rains it can only work in our favour as it would add to the mood of the track as a pathetic fallacy. Should it rain, it has given us some fresh ideas of bringing umbrellas as our props, so that singer Jo will dance and sing with the umbrella, resembling Arthur Freed's, "Singin' In The Rain" - a massive hit in 1952, lip synced by Gene Kelly, see below...

screeeeeeen test

To decide on the lead singer, we took part in a screen test. Farhana didn't want to be the lead singer, so it was between Megan & Harlee to see who had the right look. Neither minded whether they were the lead singer or not.
We did a screen test and they sang a couple of lines from the song.
After Megans spectualar performance there was a unanimous decision that Megan would be the lead.. =).

Animatic storyboard for Camera Obscura

Our animatic includes all the basic shot and camera angles for our video. The first shot establishes the scene in the cafe the camera zooms in through the window to the characters inside who are talking about there relationship. This will include close up shots of the characters faces so you can see there emotions and reactions. The singer then leaves the cafe in a long shot with her back to the camera. a long shot shows the singer walking along the street. Because the video is a reverse of there relationship the frist shots are then shown in reverse and you return back to the caf and earlier and when they were talking but instead of talking she starts singing and the film cuts to a close up of the singers face as music videos often include close up of the singer as they sell the product. During the chorus the couple are shown as if they are in a bubble ith the crowd avoiding them, they are in a world of there own. this is a medium shot th singer is sngling and lloyd is holding her hand looking unhappy. So the audience grasps the idea that the video is in reverse random shots show tht the video is in reverse and starts at the end of their relationship. The ducks are shown swimming forwards then backwards, this makes the video less literal and more abstract so the video doesn't follow the narrative to closely. Another shot to be shown during the verse "jelousy is more than a word now i understand" which shows lloyd holding the hands of two girls.This makes the video more abstracted and is a long shot of them walking down the street. further in the song shots of the lloyd and the singer druing happier times is shown in split acreens of the close ups of the girl singin and the other screen will be the couple having a picnic. The video ends in the same place as it started but instaed of them splitting up it is when they first meet. The video will include a variety of shots. Including close ups, mid shots, long shots.. Tracking and zooms. To Create a fun and exciting video that captivates the audience and keeps them watchin..

Music Videos by other groups

This is a video done by a previous media group. We chose this particular video because we liked their abstract ideas such as the writing on the blackboard and wall which highlights either the chorus or certain words from the track. We like that the group manages to create such an abstract piece and yet still manage to maintain what the song is originally about. Their use of flashing screen makes the video that little bit more interesting as you have random flashes of colour and it grabs your attention. We feel that we could use this video as a guide to when we create our own music video. It consists of the main elements when producing a successful music video and we hope that we can use the information and apply it to our own video.

Camerawork...

There's a range of camera shots, particularly at the beginning as it zooms in and out of the singer's face, which works interestingly well in contrast to having a standard long or medium shot of the singer, which is boring and hardly eyecatchingly different. The change in shots also is insync with the beat of the track, which is very effective as it creates balance and is easier to follow the video when listening to the track.
Side shots of the singer makes a change from the usual front profile of the singer. The use of close ups makes the audience focus their attention on the singer rather than the surroundings, makes it less busy and more straightforward.

Editing...

Use of short, well timed shots produces a variety of shots which flick back and forth and makes the video more appealing to watch and breaks up the track, as its not just filmed for a long period of time in one place before changing to another shot in a different location. There's a particular part in the video, which works amazingly well is the part where the shots of the singer is flicking backa and forth and the rooms that she's in is changing from black to white and vice versa..the shot before it cuts to the rocket taking off. It works really well and again doesn't rely on the usual conventional shots of just one shot which cuts to another.
Use of flashing colours as a background for some of their text, shows that they use graphics on the computer as well as creating their own effects e.g. the use of the boxes representing certain words.

Setting...

The video was fairly simple in terms of their location. I assume that they used the black and white rooms for a majority of their shots. It works well with the rest of the video as it keeps the audience's attention focused on what was important, the singer and the track that they were singing. Having limited amount of locations must have worked in their favour as its time efficient and doesn't require the group having to run around locations trying to capture all their shots.

Performance...

In general the performance was mediocre, the lip syncing was out of place in certains parts of the video however this isn't always noticed because of what's going on in the video. There isn't much to say about the individual's performance as there wasn't much acting or the singer and the group weren't moving around a lot. But that doesn't mean it lowers the video's appeal..it's still just as interesting as other videos, maybe moreso.

Genre Conventions...

The video is played for a good length of time, enough so that the audience doesn't grow bored or lose interest. The track is sung by urban femal vocalist, Lily Allen. I have searched on youtube.com for the original video but there is no video to that particular track, there are, however, live videos of Lily Allen singing the track and slide shows of the singer in various photoshoots whilst the song is playing. So the the group is actually lucky in the sense that they can interpret the song in their own way when creating their video as they don't have an original video to compare themselves to. But that does have its downside, as there's not a lot of research involved and you cannot relate the 2 videos and notice the contrast between them to determine what can be done to improve their own production.

A Bit About Camera Obscura...

The band consists of 6 members...

Tracyanne Campbell who plays the guitar guitar and does the vocals
Carey Lander who plays piano, organ and does the vocals
Kenny McKeeve plays guitar, mandolin, harmonica and does the vocals
Gavin Dunbar plays bass
Lee Thomson plays the drums and
Nigel Baillie plays the trumpet and percussion

The band started in 1996 with only 3 members, Tracyanne, John and Gavin practising in Gavin's parent's cellar without a drummer. Later on they were joined by guitarist David Skirving where they recorded "Park and Ride" as part of their single for Glasgow. By 2000, David left the band and formed his own band (California Snow Story) and he was replaced by Kenny and soon after Lindsey Boyd joined in to play the keyboard. During 2000, Camera Obscura recorded their debut album, "Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi" which they produced themselves and was "Album of the week" on XFM and the Rough Trade Shop. The album went onto become Prime Distribution's best selling independent album and was also released in Spain, Japan and Australia.
Towards the end of 2001, Lindsey had left and was replaced by member Carey and Nigel. As the years went by the group did live shows, toured around Spain and played in festivals such as the Primavera Sound in Barcelona. America soon showed interest in the band and it wasn't soon before the band toured the States and Canada.
In 2005, the band made a name for themselves as their first Independent Chart Entry with the track "I Love My Jean." And by 2006 "Hey Lloyd I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken!" became the first single to be taken out of their new album, "Let's Get Out Of This Country"

Information collected from the Camera Obscura website - www.camera-obscura.net/

FA

Scouting For Girls. Not About You

This video incorporates our idea of having the couple split up in the cafe
although in our video there will only be one girl that gets broken up with.
The video also uses an idea that we had thought to include, that is the singer lip synching the lyrics in the video whilsy talking to their other half as though they are in conversation. This video will prove to be one of our main inspirations when we produce our music video as some of our ideas are based around what they have done and we think that this video could help us a lot.

Possible Location Shots. Ely.

These are all possible locations in Ely in which we can shoot our video. We chose this town, Ely because it looked appropriate for the video, in the sense that it looked quiet, well kept and cosy. There is also a number of good shts that are avaliable to us as well as a number of coffee shops, that are avaliable to us to film. And we thought this would work well if we were to create an abstract interpretation of the video because it would create a contrast between the abstract ideas and the quietness of where it was shot. We really liked the coffee mill as it was a 'normal' location. Couples can often go together for a coffee during the day. Either after having visited somewhere new or just been shoppin for the day. The coffee mill is also very suitable because of the location. We can take shots from outside with the couple inside quite easily. This location will be used throughout the video and like a foundation for shots/images etc to grow from..


Some of the images are there to be a bit more random/ abstract. Such as the ducks. We really like the idea of having ducks in our video because we can play around with the footage after, in either photoshop and final cut. Reversing shots, changing the colours or adding effects. This just makes the mneaning of the video a little less literal.

Shots of the cathedral, we thought could be linked with our initial idea of both Jo and Lloyd at the alter. The couple are isolated together in a bubble, cut off from their surroundings and the people who have attended their "wedding". We thought this idea worked well because of our interpretation of Jo accepting that her heart would be broken by Lloyd and so still takes her chances on her future with him and her happiness.

Some Belle & Sebastian Videos.

Nick & Barney have advised us to take a look at some videos by Belle and Sebastian to try and come up wth something slightly more abstract and a little less literal to the ideas we came up with. Here are a few of the ones that we have watched.
We like the 'I'm a Cuckoo' video as it is somewhat related to the song we have chosen. However what was different in this video was the video was about him running, the song itself had nothing to do with his running. Though we hope to create something more abstract we do hope to keep it related to the track so as not to confuse the audience watching.

TEACHER PITCH FEEDBACK

Intelligent interpretation of the lyrics and interesting reverse-chronology concept.

Try not to be too literal and look at more videos (belle & sebastian?) for suggestions of less narrative-based ideas

Kate Nash - Foundations

This is the kind of feel we want for our video. Its a female singer in the same style and genre as our song & group. We have put the song on the blog as we feel that it gives many ideas that we can use, such as them uing a lot of visual representation. This is shown by the toothbrushes being together but as the relationship becomes more strained then you see the toothbrushes are no longer close to each other. We have an idea to use a coffee cup to symbolize the strenght of the relationship e.g when they are on the verge of breaking up. We show a near empty coffee cup while when they have just started dating, the coffee cup will be nearly full. We like this idea as it is different, which is the kind of idea that we are looking for in our video. We are trying to get the abstract feel and feel that if we use visual symbolisation, than we can achieve it.

Worried About Ray

This video shows a typically indie video, with abstract elements and the animated moving figures. This video is again like the Kate Nash video in that, it is different to other video of the same genre and that is again, what we want from our video, which is why we have decided to do the story backwards so it is not too samey to other songs of the genre. It has an abstract element to it and we want this in our video so we do not create a too literal storyline narrative in the video.

Pitch...

Our chosen track is by Camera Obscura, a scottish group that have been together for about 11 years and have a well established worldwide fanbase. The song, "Lloyd I'm ready to be heartbroken' was released in may 2006 on their second albulm.

We are aiming this song and video at what we believe to be their target audience; of males and females between late teens and middle age. We also think that the kind of music they listen to would be indie-ish and kind of retro. Maybe a Kate Nash style audience. Easy listening with a funky beat.
A typical indie video is normally very focused on the band/ singer. We will encapsulate this in our music video, by centering the video around our lead singer. With key shots such as close up of the face and lips. Indie videos often contain quite abstract elements, such as moving toys, as in the video by The Hoosiers, 'Worried About Ray'.

As for locations, we're thinking King Street and Trinity Street, in Cambridge quite busy but everyday areas so as to get a crowd. Not to modernised, typically indie.

So for our video we want a retro- indie feel. Quite abstract, bright colours, black and white, a fun looking video. We also like the idea of split screen and heavy effects.
So the idea...
Due to the main line in the song being ' Lloyd im ready to be heartbroken' is a oxymoron. It is a negative ( the heartbreak) contrasted with her giving him permisson to upset her and break her heart; we want to play on this juxtaposition by playing the realtionship between the singer and Lloyd in reverse. Therefore we see the break up first; and then look back through their realtionship to when they first started goin out/ happy times.
Within this idea their will be shots of the singer alone, looking quite thoughtful - Key lip sync. And shots of her with Lloyd and the happy times.
For the line " I cant see further than my own nose at this moment" We would like to have either Lloyd and the singer in what seems like an invisibe bubble with people avoiding them; ie people walking around them. Or Llyod The singer and the OTHER woman; the cause of the heartbreak, walking along holding hands. Lloyd central, singer to the left looking glum and the other woman on the right looking happy and totally besotted with Lloyd. Portraying as though the singer is not their.

ideas

- Wedding.

This idea is where during the organ, you see lead singer walking down the aisle as a bride. When the song begins, there are flashbacks to the couple's past as she is having doubts over whether to marry him or not. Possibly a flashback of Lloyd kising another girl.. but in the end she decides that she is ready to get married to him and ready to 'have her heartbroken'

- Reverse..
This idea is where the couple break up. We then look backwards at the realtionship and see how sweet it was.
At one point there could be a crowded area and the couple are in their own little bubble. Passers by just walk around them.
It could also be done using a split screen technique.

The Original Video

The original video was shot in May 2006 and we find that some elements of the video are appropriate for example of the lady in pink appearing to be taller than her surroundings, produces an abstract concept and differs from the standardised shots which keep her in proportion. The use of upbeat and use of full body dance routines and the use of bright colours contradicts the sad message within the video, it creates a bouncy and happy mood despite the sad message of heartbreak that the singer is voicing,

Song Lyrics

Lloyd, I'm ready to be heartbroken

He said “I'll protect you like you are the crown jewels” yet
Said he's feeling sorrier for me the more I behave badly I can bet

Hey Lloyd I'm ready to be heartbroken
I can't see further than my own nose at the moment

Jealousy is more than a word now I understand
I know you can stay a girl by holding a boy's hand

Hey Lloyd I'm ready to be heartbroken
I can't see further than my own nose at the moment
Hey Lloyd I'm ready to be heartbroken
I can't see further than my own nose at the moment

I've got my life of complication here to sort out
I'll take myself to an east coast city and walk about

Hey Lloyd I'm ready to be heartbroken
I can't see further than my own nose at the moment
Hey Lloyd I'm ready to be heartbroken
I can't see further than my own nose at the moment
Hey Lloyd I'm ready to be heartbroken
I can't see further than my own nose at the moment

Music Video.

Wow..
We have chosen Camera Obscurra 'Llyod I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken'
We really like the sng and think that we could do a lot with it.
Hopefully we will win the pitch for it.
Harlee Megan Sean & Farhana

MUSIC VIDEO PROJECT 2007/8

Welcome to our blog.