Meetings and Discussions

In order for the group and I to plan every stage of production we needed to regularly come together and hold group meetings, in order to discuss how we were going to produce a successful music video. Obviously, a lot of the discussion were arranged throughout the planning process in order to for example decide on the genre, our artist, the song, clothing, mise en scene, cinematography, the editing techniques we could use to make it conventional and so on. A lot of research needed to be carried out, therefore delegating different areas to each group member so that we could work efficiently and effectively. By carrying out research we were able to broaden our knowledge on Nina Nesbitt, the indie genre conventions and what people within our target audience like to see in music videos. We were also able to practice with our technology such as, HD cameras, the Apple Macs, Blogger and Final Cut Pro X, which as a result made us more familiar with how they all worked.

By carrying out these discussions everything was made fair, as each group member had a say in what we were doing which made it a lot easier to work with each other; we respected one anothers ideas and made contributions wherever was possible. I feel as a group we worked extremely well together, particularly when it came to delegating roles.

Meetings and discussions carried out:

Filming Schedule

A filming schedule is very important when carrying out filming for a music video; timing has to be precise and needs to be completed efficiently, because within this industry it is extremely costly if it is not done correctly. When putting together a detailed plan, a lot needed to be considered in terms of it being able to run smoothly and to plan, for example having characters dressed appropriately, hair and makeup completed, within the filming location, with all equipment set up and ready to use etc. We also needed to take into consideration the weather, as well as the time of day due to it getting dark so early. The group and I had many locations to film in which required traveling up to as much as an hour away. Traveling took up a lot of valuable time, meaning it was imperative to use our time wisely once reaching our destinations. We as a group focused on setting up filming equipment as soon as we arrived after choosing a good filming spot, checking all characters were clear on their roles, ready for action.

Obviously, date and time was two of the most important things to coordinate, making sure they were suitable and that everyone in the team could make it. Making sure we shot the correct footage the first time was vital, in order to avoid wasting time. Whilst in the filming process, we as a group followed out filming schedule almost to the T, however there were the occasional hitch in terms of weather and it pouring down with rain, as well as how early in the days light would disappear. I felt that arranging the filming days were a bit of a struggle to begin with, for them then having to be changed due to both of these reasons made them even more so. During filming, we as a group came up with some additional scenes to what we had planned, so that we we able to fill in a few missing gaps within our rough cut and to bring the story together a little more. As a whole we did manage to stick to most elements of our filming schedule; something that kept us all focused and in order.

Below I have included a copy of our filming schedule:

Group Digipak

When the group and I were given the task of creating a digipak, each group member individually created a paper version getting our original ideas on paper of what we thought would be successful and conventional. In order to develop our ideas, we all created our individual digipaks on Apple Macs; editing them on Adobe PhotoShop. This was followed by a discussion to decide who's were best within the group, or have the option of combining different slides from each group member.

Alongside the magazine advert, again the group and I felt that Drew’s skills in Photoshop and use of editing techniques outdid all of ours in terms of quality and being edited conventionally, therefore going with his as our final. All conventions were followed in terms of using simplistic images, yet edited in a dynamic way, remotely to become eye-catching for our target audience. Conventional indie digipaks are simplistic, with little effects on top so that the purity of the artist and meanings behind individual songs are not lost. As a group we felt that keeping it simplistic, however including various editing layers will convey our editing skills and create an edge to our artist; that Georgia's not exactly the same as all other indie artists. A variety of effects and filters were used in a dynamic way to create a unique and mysterious vibe on each slide of the digipak, giving the impression that she is a down to earth and talented artist, yet edgy. 

In relation to the magazine advert, again we included images of Georgia during her performance seen in our music video. She is seen holding the guitar in order to promote the genre, as well as how much of a talented musician she is. Often an audience will assume that when a performer sings alone with their guitar, the lyrics are deep and meaningful to them, which in fact builds a greater relationship with the audience. First I will be looking at my group member, Georgia's digipak;

Georgia has followed indie conventions by using simplistic images and editing styles. Within our music video we have incorporated and edge to the indie genre, making her a little different to the typical indie artist. Georgia has conveyed this edge within her digipak with creates a great link and flows between the two media products. She has incorporated graffitied brick walls, a scruffy/gagged font and included a ripped paper effect. This unique effect will appeal to a teenage/ young adolescent audience as it comes across as youthful, fun and interesting to the eye. Georgia has also included pictures involving the guitar, to again promote the indie genre, as well as herself being a singer/songwriter and musician. Throughout her digipak she has dimmed her images, and brightened her text. This is very common within the genre, as indie artists would rather be known for their name and music over their image as the music holds a greater, more personal importance.

Rhianna's digipak:

The images in which Rhianna has used within her digipak are conventional to the indie genre, especially with the use of the guitar. However, there is no dominant theme throughout her digipak as the tints and effects used differ in each slide. Two of the slides being the front and back include the same font in white, which does in fact clearly stand out against the photo background. The font used is the same scruffy/gagged one used in Georgia's which I feel is the best font for our digipak. I feel that she could improve her digipak by using a better range of editing techniques to show her further development in Final Cut Pro X. I also find that Rhianna would have made her thank you note slide better by using more conventional text, like seen in her final slide.

Drew's digipak:

Drew has followed the majority of conventions, as well as showing the elements in which we rebel. He promotes Georgia as a commodity, creating awareness of her, her image, name, as well as the album itself. Drew has detailed all her songs like the rest of us and the CD slide has been made dynamically in the way she plays with fire. This makes a direct connection to our ending scenes within our music video, being backed up by the connotation beside it, creating a general flow between ancillary products. Drew has also included the two slides that focus purely on Georgia herself with no additional text; this enables the audience to understand her personality a bit better, creating more of a relationship.

Like all group members Drew has used the same images from when we filmed our performance section of the music video; which involves the same clothing, hair, makeup, location and so on. He uses these pictures in his magazine artist as well, creating a continual flow between all products. This clothing worn, we though was most conventional to the indie genre; red bandana, and lipstick, Dr.Martins, tartan scarf, denim shirt and so on. All elements of her style connote the genre itself, as well as Georgia, our commodity.

To conclude, I feel our final group digipak, magazine advert and music video will feed off each other as they all have that direct link. With the magazine advert being the starting point; promoting Georgia as a new and upcoming artist which will instantly draw in a readers attention. The textual content will become memorable, which will as a result spark off the idea to buy the album or look the video up on YouTube, in order to gain a greater insight to what she as an artist is about.

My digipak:

Group Magazine Advert

When planning our magazine advert, each group member individually created a paper version getting our original ideas on paper on what we thought a typical indie magazine advert should include. This way we were then able to share our ideas with ease to the rest of the group, discussing both the positives and negatives about each. We aimed to convey typical codes and conventions of an indie artist to target our niche audience between the ages of 13-25. Developing from this, we transformed our paper versions and created a magazine advert on Adobe Photoshop.

To have a greater understanding of magazine adverts for an indie artist, I took the time to research Nina Nesbitt's past magazine adverts, as well as looking at one from a more successful indie artist like Lana Del Ray. This assisted me when planning my own as I was able to understand what attracts a greater audience, which will determine how successful mine will be. Conventions I focused on were for example the background, text type and size, positioning of artist, iconography and so on.

Drew's magazine advert:

The group and I discussed who's magazine advert was best and we came to the conclusion Drew's was, alongside his digipak. I feel that his is the most conventional and innovative magazine advert in comparison to mine and the others. Conventional magazine adverts, again the group and I felt that Drew’s skills in Photoshop and use of editing techniques outdid all of ours in terms of quality and being edited conventionally, therefore going with his as our final. All conventions were followed in terms of using simplistic images, yet edited in a dynamic way, remotely to become eye-catching for our target audience. Within the magazine advert I requested Drew to include one of the photos that included Georgia, as well as her guitar. I felt that by including the guitar portrays more of Georgia's true emotions, as a guitar is often associated with deeper and more meaningful words. This will as a result build a greater relationship with Georgia and her target audience. The text is different, yet eye catching and I feel it is very conventional to his design and the indie genre, with the additional grungy appeal. The fact that the majority of the text is in white, makes it very clear it was well thought through in the way it stands out from the images and is in a readable font/size.


Georgia's magazine advert:

As well as the whole group, Georgia used Adobe Photoshop CS6 to edit her design, as well as using the pictures from our performance section of the music video. The photos used are conventional and follow genre characteristics, making the artist relatable and attractive to our target audience. Alongside this, Georgia has also included an old photo of a brick wall and compressed the two together by cropping the photograph, which allowed the brick wall to be visible behind it. Georgia used a font called 'chalkboard' in white which stands out from the images and is conventional alongside the brick wall, making it eye-catching and very indie. Obviously 'Georgia Ray', the album title, the release date and that it features our music video song 'The Apple Tree' is all made very evident in a readable font, in addition to this she has written a positive comment from the NME. This promotes her as a commodity in a positive light which is as a result reassuring and encourages our audience to buy our final product.
The General style of Georgia's magazine advert is urban/grunge which is not only conventional, but there are also elements that are unconventional, such as the dark tint making Georgia Ray mysterious. Through having unconventional elements it makes her that little bit different in comparison to typical indie artists which makes her stand out from the crowd. To conclude, I feel that the design is relatable to the indie genre and will attract that niche indie audience. With that grungy edge makes the design original and unique which could also attract people outside of our target audience, increasing our success rate.


Rhianna's magazine advert:

Rhianna has also used Abobe Photoshop CS6 to edit her magazine advert, as well as using the images we took during filming. Rhianna did not use the photos taken within the performance, but like me has used the ones from the Camden scene where she is dressed conventionally in a denim shit, with a tartan top tied around her waist. The light blue and burgundy work well together and are typical high street clothing seen in indie genre music.With Georgia being dressed in in high street fashion makes her relatable as her target audience are able to follow her trend with it not being overly priced and designer. Georgia's makeup is toned down, taking on a natural approach which relates to her music in the way it's pure and spoken from the heart. The text is simplistic, however does stand out even against the denim shirt and simply states the facts, her name, the album name and promoting its currently in stores to purchase. Rhianna has made the effort to cut the original background and place Georgia alone on top of a pink coloured brick wall, which in fact makes it a little edgy. The two images together are dynamic and unique, making our artist a little different in comparison to the typical indie artist. Georgia Ray is promoted as a commodity, however I feel that Rhianna could have included more editing techniques to show further development and knowledge of Photoshop.

My magazine advert:

To conclude, all magazine adverts had their positives, alongside the few negative but all in all we decided to go with Drew's. Drew's magazine advert was the most conventional and dynamic, showing off a range of editing techniques making it edgy. It works well alongside our final digipak as well as our music video as they all feature the clothing warn in the performance section.

Rough Cut

A rough  cut is very important to consider, as it allows myself and the group to reflect on what we have produced so far and discuss areas that need improvement. Obviously, throughout editing all of the group have collectively made input, however there is always room for improvement once it's all put together. For example a shot may just need a different editing technique, which is something we as a group can all play around with to find the one most suited.

(http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=The%20Apple%20Tree%20roughcut%20&sm=3)

It is imperative to to share the video to an audience in order to gain feedback, as feedback is vital. It is so important to consider audience feedback as as it is an outsiders opinion, that can in fact make a huge difference. Everyone has a different music taste, and prefers specific music genres, but even so their opinion should always be valued and considered.

Myself and the group felt it was a good idea to share our rough cut with Facebook via YouTube, as they are book successful, mass populated sites that are always receiving feedback. I felt that this route was essential as they are both huge social networking platforms that will be able to provide us with some feedback. Once uploading we began gaining viewers, with some even sharing the link which was most helpful and portray the capability of recent technology. YouTube in particular is a

site for anyone to view, therefore the mass are exposed to it and are able to share with myself and the group whether they like or dislike it, with some giving informative comments. As time passed we began gaining viewers and even received some 'Likes'.

I also took another approach to this task and asked friends and family what they thought and where improvements could be made. I received a comment stating '"This is a great video, however some of the performance singing is out of time"' by a teacher within West Hatch Sixth Form. He also requested us to '"revaluate your work"'. These comments we instantly took on board as we knew we had so make sure that all singing in the performance was intime with the voice over, but instantly we had relevant and useful feedback that we are able to use. A young girl named Daisy also left a comment simply stating '"Very indie, love it"'. Now this comment boosted our confidence as instantly she recognised the genre and approved of what we had achieved so far. This upped our ego as we thought so hard on following most conventions. To my surprise we were even left with a comment on Facebook by Danielle Wood '"So far so good Jenna, keep it up!"'. All these comments, being some bad, some good allows us to take on board what others think and make corrections.

This feedback will assist me with finalising our final music video, as we would have received comments detailing areas we have done well in, as well as areas we have not. This information allows to make changes and making the majority of the audience happy, in order for the video to be a success.

Risk Assessment

·      It is important to consider risks before our group begins filming, as health and safety is our priority; making sure everyone remains unharmed by the end of filming, otherwise we run the risk of filming and not being completed due to an accident occurring. A risk assessment is carried out in order to reduce the chance of injury happening. As a group we had to assess our locations for potential risks and consider a plan to reduce the risk and document the process. An example being, the risk of theft by surrounding people in rough areas such as Camden and Brick Lane. The way in which we would handle this risk is to wear the safety straps on at all time, so that the equipment is attached to one of the group members, which also in fact reduces the risk of dropping the equipment causing damage.

A risk assessment will assist me when filming as the chance of either myself, Georgia, Drew, Rhianna or any additional characters from becoming injured during the filming process. Obviously being the people filming, we not only have to look out for ourselves and the team, but we are also liable for general public's safety, eg. not leaving equipment out for anyone to trip over. The risk assessment is also clarification that you cannot be held responsible for any accidents if all have been analysed, unless one risk has not been.

The only additional risks encountered during filming was in the forest, with branches randomly placed on the fall, increasing the risk of Georgia tripping whilst performing. Another being, during Georgia's performance when seen sitting on an unstable fence. In order to avoid both risks, we had to make sure her walking path was clear of anything that could potentially cause her harm, as well as test the if the fence could support Georgia's weight when sitting on it. If we did not test this risk then there was a big possibility the fence could collapse and Georgia may have fallen into the lake. Luckily everything went to plan and all group members remained unharmed.

Description of hazard	Prevention of hazard
Falling in between the gap at a train station, when stepping from the platform onto the train.	Ensure all group members stand behind the yellow line on the platform at all times. Also, make sure that the group are aware of surrounding people whether the platforms busy or quiet and the people getting on and off the train.
Risk of falling into the canal.	Make sure Georgia and Drew walk slowly and carefully when   approaching the canal. Ensure that when position themselves they do not step too near to the edge.
Being hit by motor vehicles when crossing the roads.	Ensure that Georgia and Drew cross the roads safely by either looking both ways repeatedly when crossing or to cross at traffic lights if available.
Damage inflicted to the camera.	Make sure all the safety straps are securely fastened onto my wrist at all times during filming. If the camera is placed onto the tripod, ensure that the tripod itself is held to prevent it being knocked over.
Risk caused by the surrounding diverse people, with the possible risk of theft.	Make sure all equipment is kept at a close distance and are kept safe by all group members, particularly me being the cameraman, reducing the risk of theft. Another prevention is so wear safety straps on at all times.
Risk of team members or surrounding people tripping over the equipment eg. The tripod.	Make sure everyone stays out of the equipment zone. This will require extra team members helping to direct the general public around the equipment ensuring everyone remains safe and unharmed.
Health risk to Georgia and Drew when smoking.	Make sure the characters are not to inhale the smoke too much and are not around it for too long. We could always use an E-cigarette as an alternative, however would not have the same effect.