Preparation of ancillary tasks

For the album advert, we wanted to add 5-star ratings to make it look more realistic, so used an image of 5 plain stars and manipulated the image to make it fit more with the look of our poster:

Completing this task has allowed me to document the development of the ancillary tasks, from initial ideas and planning, to taking the photographs and then editing them into the finished product.

Shooting schedule

Test footage

We planned to use some slow-motion shots in our video, so decided to film some test footage to make sure the idea would work. I thought if we filmed our actors dancing and lip-syncing at double speed, then slowed it down to normal speed in editing, it would look like they were moving in slow motion, but the dancing and lip-syncing would still match up to the song. I got the idea from seeing how they film certain songs on the TV show Glee. For example, in the last song of the series, this technique is used, as shown in a Youtube video posted by one of the cast:



This is how it looked in the show, slowed down:



I then watched a music video which I thought had probably used this technique as well, and watched the 'behind the scenes' video which showed that they had done what we wanted to do in our video. 






This showed me it was possible, so we decided to try it ourselves to make sure we could get it to look right:


Slow motion test footage from Emily Friend on Vimeo.

We managed to get the lip-syncing to match up by altering the duration of the video to match the duration of the section of the song. However, due to how much faster it has to be in order to be effective, it may be a problem for the dancers to keep up and we may not decide to do this in the real thing.

After completing the main task, and excluding the slow motion sections, I can see this was the right choice as it perhaps would not have fit with the happy mood of the song.

Costumes

These are the costumes that our characters wear in our music video:

Completing this task has meant I have justified why our characters are dressed in a particular way for our video, and why this is important to make sure it fits the situation and represents the characters in the way we intended.

Theoretical research

Completing this research has meant I could apply Todorov's narrative theory to my own work. When coming up with the story idea for our video we kept this typical story structure in mind in order to create something that followed conventions. Now that it has been filmed, we can use this structure in editing to make sure it follows the 5 steps.

Settings board

Completing this settings board has made me consider why we chose our locations and what makes them appropriate to film at.  It also made me think about why they might not have been as good as our original choices, or may have actually turned out to be better.The most important issues that came up were the fact that public places would be crowded with people, and therefore there might not be enough space to film. There were also timing issues - our original ideas were only available to us as short, awkward time slots. Even for our current choices we had to arrange special times to go and film, and outdoor scenes had to be filmed quickly before it got too dark.

Textual analysis for ancillary tasks

Completing this task has allowed me to research into existing digipaks and adverts, and find the conventions of these. This means I can see what definitely needs to be included in my ancillary tasks, and use some ideas takens from these in my own work to make it look more professional.

Actors profiles

Completing this task has meant I have thought about why specific actors should be chosen, and why our actors are suited to our music video.

Institutional Research

Completing this research has taught me about the biggest companies in the music industry and all the different stages required in distributing a music video. It made me consider how we would go about making ours 'in the real world' by thinking about what kind of budget we might get and what platforms would be best to reach the widest audience, and our target audience.

Storyboard and Shot list

When we first came up with the idea for our music video, we decided to make a storyboard. Our orignal idea was to have a short section of acting before the song started. This is common in some music videos, particularly those of Katy Perry, whose videos can be close to ten minutes long. Another example is Michael Jackson's Thriller. However, we decided not to do this, but might have just a couple of seconds before the song starts. The storyboard also feautes our old location choice, which we are not using any more, and does not have the variety of different settings we are now going to use.

Shot list

After changing our idea, we then created a more complete shot list with our new idea - including the variety of settings. This will ensure we get all the footage we need on shooting days.

Shot type	Description	Length	Lyrics
Long shot	Harry alone at the bar	3
Two shot	Jazz comes and sits next to him	1
(Possible) Long take	Awkward conversation between the two, song starts	6	Nah, nah honey I’m good I could have another but I probably should not I got somebody at home
Close up	Harry rolling his eyes	2	It’s been a long night here
Mid shot	Jazz dragging Harry around the fair	2	And a long night there
Mid shot	Back at the bar, Harry trying to get rid of Jazz	2	And these long, long legs
Close up	Harry lip-syncing at the fair	2	Are damn near everywhere
Mid shot	Harry lip-syncing at the PlayStation	2	Hold up now
Long shot	Harry lip-syncing in front of rides	2	You look good
Close up	Harry in front of rides	2	I will not lie
Mid shot	Harry in playstation	2	But if you ask
Medium close up	Harry in playstation	2	Where I’m staying tonight
Two shot	Harry and Jazz at bar	2	I gotta be like
Over shoulder	Harry talking to Jazz	2	Oh, baby, no baby
Over shoulder	Jazz watching Harry	2	You got me all wrong baby
Medium close up	Harry in playstation	2	My baby’s already got
Long shot	Harry with dancers	2	All of my love
Medium long shot	Dancers	2	So nah, nah honey I’m good
Various shots of lip-syncing cut to the beat	Harry lip-syncing with dancers in background	2	I could have another but I
		2	Probably should not
		2	I got somebody at home
		2	And if I stay I
		2	Might not leave alone
		2	Nah, honey I’m good
		2	I could have another but I
		2	Probably should not
Long shot	Harry and Jazz at the bar	2	I gotta bid you adieu
Mid shot	Harry telling Jazz	2	To another I will stay true
Various shots	Dancers with Harry at the front	7	I will stay true, I will stay true
Long shot	Harry alone at the playstation	4	Now better men than me have failed
Close up	Harry at the fair	2	Drinking from
Mid shot	Harry and Jazz at the fair	2	That unholy grail
Close up	Harry in playstation	1	Now check it out
Medium long shot	Harry and Jazz in playstation	2	I got her
Over shoulder	Harry telling Jazz at the fair	2	And she got me
Two shot	Harry and Jazz at the bar	2	And you’ve got that ass
Close up	Harry in playstation	2	But I kindly
Long shot	Dancers	2	Gotta be like
Mid shot	Harry telling Jazz in playstation	2	Oh, baby, no, baby
Long shot	Jazz kind of begging Harry	2	You got me all wrong baby
Mid shot	Harry looking weirded out	2	My baby’s already got
Close up	Harry in playstation	2	All of my love
Various shots	Harry lip-syncing with dancers in background	2	So nah, nah honey I’m good
		2	I could have another but I
		2	Probably should not
		2	I got somebody at home
		2	And if I stay I
		2	Might not leave alone
		2	Nah, honey I’m good
		2	I could have another but I
		2	Probably should not
		2	I gotta bid you adieu
		3	To another I will stay true
		4	I will stay true
		4	I will stay true
Mid shot	Slow motion Harry and Jazz at the fair	4	Oh I’m sure ya, sure ya
Two shot	Slow motion Harry and Jazz at the bar	3	Will make somebody’s night
Long shot	Slow motion Harry in playstation	4	But oh, I assure ya, assure ya
Mid shot	Slow motion Harry in playstation	3	It sure as hell’s not mine
Various shots	Slow motion dancers	2	Oh, no honey I’m good
		2	I could have another but I
		2	Probably should not
		2	I got somebody at home
Mid shot	Harry in playstation	2	And if I stay I
Long shot	Harry in playstation	2	Might not leave alone
Various shots	Harry and Jazz in the playstation cut between them at the fair	2	Nah, honey I’m good
		2	I could have another but I
		2	Probably should not
		2	I gotta bid you adieu
		2	To another I will stay true
		2	Nah, nah honey I’m good
		2	I could have another but I
		2	Probably should not
		2	I got somebody at home
		2	And if I stay I
		2	Might not leave alone
Mid shot	Harry in playstation	2	Nah, honey I’m good
Long shot	Harry joining in with dancing	2	I could have another but I
Mid shot	Harry joining in with dancing	2	Probably should not
Mid shot	Harry alone in playstation	2	I gotta bid you adieu
Long shot	Harry joining in with dancing	3	To another I will stay true
Various shots	Dance ending, dancers leaving	4	I will stay true
		4	I will stay true
		4	I will stay true
Over shoulder	Harry turns round	2	I will stay true
Long shot	Harry walks off with the boy	2	I will stay true