what we learned from the animatic

From the animatic we learnt that our video would not only fit well with the song but also with the idea we had created for the narrative. The clear outline of every shot and angle we were planning on using however it is clear that there are not enough shots used and that we need to include more, this not only helped us develop our final idea, but also produce what we think is a perfect video that clearly shows the influence of the animatic on us and therefore shows we learnt a significant amount.

changes made after our animatic

After the animatic was made and shown to people, the main change made was that the studio shots we planned which would have all of the band members in, would be cut as we felt this was not needed in the video and was not in the same theme we wanted the video to have, this was because we felt that the animatic was an accurate representation of what we wanted our final video to be and therefore any changes that we wanted to be made had to reflect our thoughts and therefore we cut the entire band shots from the video. As seen by the animatic below it is clear that we matched up each shot and frame of the storyboard to the music very accurately, this was done to reflect the real music video and therefore people saw an accurate representation of what we were going to make, what our video was going to be like and how it was going to look.

Feedback on Idea

They all said they would watch the video and liked the premise of the idea and thought it was an interesting concept.

The idea needs to be finalised but it is good, it should showcase London as a city and is very interesting. It is a good idea and could be very exciting.

Idea is very creative and they said they would definitely watch it.

Thought the idea was very creative and he said he would be interested to watch it.

Overall feedback on the idea was very positive with a few points on possible improvements to it, but it is clear that people would watch the video and are intrigued by the idea.

Feedback on final video

The video below shows all of the feedback we received from everyone asked on our final edit of our music video:

This video had overall positive comments; the video was upbeat, the shots especially low angle were good as well as the time lapses at the beginning. They thought the location was good and that it tied in with the narrative. The editing was good and fluent. They also came across as a very organic band.

Criticism was that; more performance based than narrative, the video narrative for some was hard to understand. The drummer wasn't in the video however we addressed this issue in the Q&A. The lip syncing was also out of time at points.

They are like; kings of Leon, JLS, the Verve and The Beatles. They are a young Radiohead and similar to Coldplay

The video also had good comments such as: the passions the singer had was very authentic, the camera angles were especially good, specifically the low angle shot. The location was also good and was well linked with the video. The narrative was good. The lip-syncing was good. They thought the narrative was clear.

Criticisms were that: the low angle shot of the main singer in front of the building was overused.

They are like: red hot chilli peppers.

They are an organic band (original).

Overall good comments and he liked the video, only improvements was the lip-syncing which we fixed

They thought the music matched the video, it worked well together. The video had a good use of imagery. The song choice was good and matched the theme and pace of the video. They had no criticisms the video.

mood board of shot choices

feedback from class on our video

Our class had overall positive comments; the video was upbeat, the shots especially low angle were good as well as the time lapses at the beginning. They thought the location was good and that it tied in with the narrative. The editing was good and fluent. They also came across as a very organic band.

Criticism was that; more performance based than narrative, the video narrative for some was hard to understand. The drummer wasn't in the video however we addressed this issue in the Q&A. The lip syncing was also out of time at points.

They are like; kings of Leon, JLS, the Verve and The Beatles. They are a young Radiohead and similar to Coldplay

Examples and analysis of cd covers

This CD cover is from the band Imagine Dragons:

This CD cover is from the band One Direction:

This CD cover is from the music group The Beatles:

This CD cover is from the music group JLS:

Spotify Bio Page and Spotify page for artist

lighting for the video

Throughout the entire music video we used natural lighting. In the editing stage later this was changed to ensure that the contrast was perfect, however when filming the shots we used no lighting equipment. The only shots where lighting equipment was used is in the studio shots. The studio shots are not in the music video as the lighting was not good due to the studio being a dark room and the 3 lights we used not being good quality enough to make the lighting of any use. The lights used were 3 of the same lighting fixtures (Fancierstudio 2400 Watt Barndoor Video Lighting Kit), even though the kit is extremely good equipment we felt the lighting in the shots gave them a poor quality and therefore they were not used in the video. The influence we had to use natural lighting were from various other bands and music videos that take place outside, we found the idea of doing this for an indie band would make it more natural and organic. Bands such as the twenty-one pilots in their song Stressed Out and Coldplay in their song Yellow, have done this in numerous videos to give a more natural effect. Films also influences us as movies such as Harry Potter and Jumper which also have scenes that contain natural light in locations around London as it not only portrays the city well but also establishes the location well.

Twenty-one pilots in their song Stressed Out:

Coldplay in their song Yellow:

Harry Potter 6:

Jumper:

Below is the lighting fixtures that we used in the studio shots:

Test Shots

We filmed various shots and tracking shots to see what was appropriate for the video as well as for the main singer of the band, as the singer is a similar height to me it was easy to do this and allowed us to have a frame of reference when deciding what shots to use in the video.

audience feedback from initial screening

The videos below show the feedback we received from the initial screening of our music video, this was useful as the people asked are in our target audience age range and therefore give an accurate representation of what our target audience will think of the video.

  

 Overall the feedback was generally positive from the audience, the only issue they found was that some of the lip syncing seemed to be out of time. However when we edited the video to address this issue, we found the problem and fixed it to improve the lip syncing. The feedback showed us that the target audience liked the song choice and the video as well as the shots used and locations where the scenes took place.

explanation of our narrative

Our narrative is explained very easily, it is based around the idea that people take time to find each other, it goes with the song title Play the Game as the band believe that life is like a game, this is why the band members meet up one by one on the streets of London. In life people find each other at random moments, the band simulated this in the video with the members meeting up, as the idea is that no one can move on until the group is whole. The location is London as that is where all of the band members are from, they are 4 teenagers from East London who are following their dream.

our ideal audience member

To show what our ideal audience member would be we made a fake Facebook profile to show what the audience member would be like. Our audience member would ideally be in an age range of 16-24 as this is the age range that would start to appreciate the music and listen to new indie bands. The audience member will likely be interested in indie music and also like bands similar to ours such as Twenty One Pilots, the audience would ideally love to go and see live performances as well as keep track of what the band is doing at all times.

iconography of the album cover

Below is the final design for the front of our album, this was completed after many attempts at deciding what the best look for the cover was. We decided to call the album TYP as an abbreviation of the band name The Young Pretenders. The centre of the cover features the album name in a contrasting font as we felt this was the best look for the cover. We also felt that similar to other groups, the band's name needed to be on the cover, this is why the band's name is shown in-between the pictures of Esch band member. The way the band member's are separated out is also another feature of a cover as it not only shows the individual member's clearly but also gives the band a more authentic look.

audience questionnaire

Below is the survey that we made for our target audience. There are 10 questions on the survey that ask for responses on the music video, the narrative of the video, the website and the digipak.

props

The only props that were used in our video were the instruments, the equipment, the camera and the lighting. The instruments used were; a guitar, drum kit and a bass. The equipment used was; numerous amplifiers, ladder for higher shots and drum sticks. The lighting used was 3 of the same lighting devices and the camera used was the same in all shots.

Instruments:

Guitar:

Price: £529

Drums: Yamaha Manu Katche Drum Kit

Price: £630

Bass: Yamaha TRBX304

Price: £300

Equipment:

Camera: Black Magic Pocket

Price: £840

Lighting: 

Lighting set up: Fancierstudio 2400 Watt Barndoor Video Lighting Kit

Price: £150

Ladder:

Ladder used for high angle shots:  Home Vida 4-Step Steel Portable Folding Heavy Duty Ladder

Price: Free - borrowed from school

Amplifiers:

Amplifier used when band play: Marshall MG10 CF Amplifier

Price: Free - borrowed from school

band facebook page

We created a Facebook page for the band to further their social media presence. This allows the band to create more of an online presence as well as being able to connect with fans more through social media. This page will keep fans up to date as well as ensure they never miss anything.

email to Kodaline record company about song use

We emailed Kodaline's record company which is RCA records, they are the record company for Sony music in the UK. We did this to ask if it was acceptable for us to use the band's song play the game for our music video, below is the email that was sent.

filming the animatic

Above is the completed animatic video, we filmed the animatic by taking pictures of our storyboard that was made for the video, we then used each frame to match up the shots in the video for the particular section of music using Premier Pro. The animatic overall shows all of the shots we planned on using for the specific parts of the song and matches up to give a preview of what the video will be outlined to be. This was helpful as it allowed us to see if were were going to be able to cut to the beat, if we needed to take more shots, make shots longer or even make them shorter, as well as helping us to see if our narrative concept flowed properly and was clearly shown in the video. This was something that we did not do at AS as we did not think it would be of use, however once we had done it we realised how helpful it was in actually conceptualising the video. Once we had done this we were then able to make the necessary changes to the storyboard so that we would be prepared when filming.