Editing post 6.

I have finally finished cutting the video together. What I did today was to put the finishing stylistic touches to the video. I did this in After Effects, I desaturated the color slightly and added a similar green/blue color tone to that in their previous video. I also added some extra contrast.

Editing post 5.

Today I watched the video through at what I had put together as I was nearing the completion of the editing. The begging of the video did not look how I had wanted it to. So I set out to re-do the opening montage. I was finding it increasingly difficult to get this sequence right as I could not seem to find the right shots to go in at the right time. I had used a large majority of the shots of the light bulbs and have realized that we did not shoot enough. This meant that I was going to be repeating clips in the montage.
However I soon decided that less is more when it came to the beginning sequence.

Editing post 4.

I wanted to make the alignment of these cuts to be in perfect timing to add to the effectiveness of the technique.

I originally found it hard to find correct shots to cut to, however after doing this for a while I soon saw which types of shot looked good when cut between quickly.

After editing the montages for the second day, I felt that I had achieved the right level of accuracy when cutting the shots in time with each other.

Editing post 3.

The video has a large amount of montage use in it. This means cutting from clip to clip quickly using different images or in my case clips of video.

The montages which I was making were mainly cutting from abstract images of the light bulbs cutting to shots of the band playing their instruments. This took some time to select all of the short cuts and to align them into time with the rhythm of the song.

Editing post 2.

The second day of editing involved me starting to create the rough cut of the video. This meant that I put together a basic version of the video to give me a basis to work from.
One thing which was tedious at times and was time consuming was the syncing of the video up to the track. Because we used a backing track to film to it meant that the band were more or less in time. However there were moments where there would be small details in which something would go out of sync with the track I was cutting to. However it was usually due to a mistake on my behalf. For instance when you hit the backspace key the video alignment jumps back to fill the space which you removed the clip from. This puts whatever you have aligned later in the track out of sync. Although I had the beat markers in, I still had trouble trying to sync everything with as much ease as I would have liked. It became easier as I did more and more of the video.

Editing post 1.

After filming the video the footage was all uploaded onto Final Cut Pro. I cut the sequence into the different shot types which were filmed and placed them into their own separate folders. This did not take long to do. This will make the cutting and editing more manageable and organized. Otherwise I would have to go through large chunks of video which would waste unnecessary time and effort.

I then put markers to the beat of the song so that it will again make it easier when it comes to syncing up the video to the track. This involved me sitting and listening to the song and measuring out where each beat was and hitting the key to add the marker.

Shooting order:


We started off by shooting a set of three wide shots, we did three so that we could let the band warm up, and also so that we would have a larger bank of video to work from when we came to edit. We then filmed a selection of close up’s of the band members individually, then did them in pairs. We also filmed some of the lights by themselves, so that we could use them in the film for effect.

We also used the crane to get shots from overhead above the band to add a sense of variety to the shots, and after this we filmed the tracking shots.

Shoot Day Write Up

SETTING UP:


I started off the shoot by setting up the lights the night before. We had 36 normal light bulbs hanging from the ceiling with blue, green and white bulbs hung in random sequence. We tried to make the lights so that there weren’t any of the same colours too close to each other, because this I believe would have reduced the artistic quality, which was meant to be achieved. When setting the lights up I had to direct the lighting technician as to where I wanted to hang them in order to get the right stage set up, and the right proximity and depth.

At the back there were 5 LED light trips arranged into a pyramid, which would vaguely frame the band. These also added an effective sense of symmetry and allowed us a variation of shots; the LED’s were capable of changing and giving lots of different lighting effects, however we decided to stick with white light on the back LED’s so that we could keep an effective image, and so that it would not distract the viewers from the actual song itself, which can easily be done if you have to many distracting and glaring lights.

Finally we had 8 strip lights on the floor, which at first we did not really know exactly what we wanted to use them for, however we soon decided on placing them on the floor around the band, this gave more of an impression of a performance area. We also used them to light up some of the close up shots of the drum kit.

The next day we finished setting up when the band had arrived and we set up the drum kit in the right position where we wanted it, and made sure that the light bulbs were not in danger of being smashed when the band were performing. I had previously taken into account that they would need room in which to perform, so I had given them room by positioning the light bulbs at varying levels and different areas of the set.

Track Choices

We are in the process of choosing the track for our music pop promo. There are currently two tracks which we might be using. These are both by the same band Flashguns.

Our first choice of track is a song named 'Bells at Midnight', this track is the first choice because it is a much more striking and punchy track, which will make for a more effective music pop promo. Also the track has recently been released as a part of an E.P. released by the band named 'Matching Parts, Similar Hearts'. Using a track that has recently been released will help to promote and add interest to the video from the general public as the song is already out in the public eye.

The second track which we are thinking of using is named 'Speed and Leisure'. The reason we have chosen this track for our pop promo, is that it is a catchy, edgy and unreleased track from the band. The track has not been released yet into the public, however I feel that this could work as an advantage as wel as a dissadvantage. Using an unknown track could create a hype within your target audience, which could greatly raise interest into the track and video. However the track is not known by the public, so people may find it hard to find it on the internet, and may not even know it has been made, so publicity would be an important and potentially expensive process for this concept.

After weighing the pros and cons for each different track, we as a group have decided to use 'Bells at Midnight' for our track. It is clear that it would be much easier to create a higher quality of veiwing pleasure if we used this track.

Planning

Once we had decided on the song which we were going to use we had to develop our ideas into a solid product. This meant story boarding and working out lighting plans.
Bellow I have posted some of the story boards for our video, this was to give us a much better idea of how we were going to film the video and which shots we needed to capture. Because our video is only a performance piece it was important that we used as many interesting and exciting different shots in order to keep the audience captivated.

We Filmed our story boards a JVC 1500E so that we could make a mock up of our actual music video and get an idea of what it will vaguely look like.


The Most strenuous part of the music video has been the setting up and organization of the lighting plan. We drew up a rough sketch of what the set would look like. The day before the shoot I went in with the lighting crew and helped them to set up the lights in the appropriate way and to sort out roughly what the lights would be doing for the video.

 

Audience/target-audience

 With my advanced portfolio production, I have the added benefit of using a real band which means that I can see their target audience which they have already gathered and the following which they have formed.
I used the bands Myspace in order to look at their 'friends' to see what age group would support, follow and buy the bands material. I built up a demographic profile of the people who have left comments on the bands websites and also gathered information from their 'friends', from this study of their online social networking I established that their main audience ranges from 13-30 there are of course older and younger people who support and follow the band, however this statistic which we see is of the majority of people whom follow and support them. From this data I can compile more information and build up a stronger profile of the bands target audience.
I have been to a large number of the bands concerts which is the bands main source of income. The general crowd at their shows ranges from 15-30 with a peak at the age  of around 18-25. I believe that there are not a younger audience due to the need to be 18 or over at a lot of the venues which the band play at. However there are some 15 and 16 plus concerts which the band play with an organization named All-Agis.
There has been an increased youthfulness of people buying bands music, due to the accessibility of it in the modern world. I Tunes has played a big part in this due to its ease to use.

Transgressive Records, Research and Ideas.

Transgressive Records are an independent record label. Acts on the label include bands like Foals Mystery Jets and Graham Coxon. This independent label are the sort of label which would be likely to sign a band like Flashguns. The band actually have received some interest for the release of their actual album.
Transgressive are a label which  find smaller acts who might not necessarily get found without their help. This is from a statement made by Tim Dellow and Toby L the founders of Transgressive. 
 The bands which are on the label are band who are quite similar stylistically and also in their target audiences.  

I have decided to make this the Label which I will use to represent Flashguns in my advanced media production.  

Inspiration and Ideas. The Smiths, How Soon is Now.

The video for How Soon is Now by The Smiths has been a large source of inspiration in planning and gathering ideas for my music promo.
Unfortunately it has not been possible to add the video directly to my blog due to licensing. However here is the URL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U5HpeA_WSo

The Video is a mainly performance piece, actually containing live footage of the band playing a concert. The darker lighting plan and use of performance clips has influenced the way in which the direction of the music video is going.

The target audiences for both bands Flashguns and The Smiths. Of course Flashguns are going to have a much more updated and modern version of this audience. However at the time The Smiths were 'at large' the audience would be from very similar areas.

Inspiration and Ideas. Battles Tonto

Here is a video by the band Battles. This video played a big part it the inspiration for my media product. The lighting plan has been very influential. The idea of using a performance based video without any narrative is extremely appealing to me for use in my Advanced Portfolio Production. This is because this is the place that most bands will make their money, so the video is an advertisement for their live performances.

Inspiration and Ideas. T4 Live

The TV channel T4 have a live lounge where band play live sets for their audience to watch so that they can premote themselves as a live act. The stage set up and the concept behind the live lounge is very similar to how I would like to portray Flashguns in this video.

Here is an example of the stage set up and the live lounge. There was no embedded file. Damn!
Here is the URL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGc6UEZHUUg

The band: The Flashguns: Institutional background info.

The bands name is Flashguns. Originating from London and Brighton have just finished their gap year which was spent playing gigs, various festivals, recording and picking up attention from various record labels, the likes of Columbia, Universal Studios, XL, Tramp Records and Geffen, however they remain unsigned. They are managed by September management.

They have just recently released a four track E.P. named 'Matching Parts, Similar Hearts', the main track 'I Dont Not Love You' received a lot of radio play with radio 1 DJ Steve Lamaque, Scott Mills, Huw Stevens and Nick Grimshaw. Previous to this E.P. they have released two singles named 'Locarno', and 'Time House Blues'.

They have been a band for around two years now, they formed at public school. The guitarist and the drummer had been playing in bands together for around three years. There influences include bands like The Smiths, The Cure, Weezer, Nirvana, The Killers, Biffy Clyro, Radiohead, Deftones and many more.

Their edgy, poppy sound attracts an audience from the ages of 12-40. They have previously toured with Jamie T, and are currently on the Bombay Bicycle Club tour, and have played the likes of Underage Festival and Reading Festival.

The three peice used to be a four peice, however their keyboardist left the band only recently due to family problems and his own personal problems. This has benefitted the band as he was always known to be the member holding them back. They have introduced a backing track into their live performance to replace him, and have also added extra vocal, keyboard and guitar lines. The use of the backing track has added a great deal to their live performance.

They have their own Myspace and their own Website. www.myspace.com/flashguns, http://www.flashguns.com/. Promising things are expected of them in the future.

Here we see the band backstage before their performance at Lattitude Festival, in Suffolk where they opened the festival on the mainstage.

THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

1. Musical taste can be a controversial topic- almost to the point of tribalism.

2. It is contentious because it defines and often signifies personality and lifestyle. Musical taste is about the way you dress, speak and sometimes act.

3. However, all commentators agree that Music and its trends - sit at the epicentre of popular culture.

4. Not only to the extent that an individual can derive a sense of identity but to the extent the global community can be changed by Musical Trends

5. The pop video is only one strand of a often multimedia campaign.

6. The overview is a diagram of the contributing and sometimes, conflicting forces behind music/media creation.

7. The Industry is dominated by 4 transnational corporations known as ‘The Majors’

 

Universal

SonyBMG

Warner Bros

EMI

 

Most majors also own, or licence, a string of smaller subsidiary companies in order to reach different kinds of audiences in different kinds of genre. These companies are known as ‘major-independents’ Finally, there are a huge number of small companies with little or no financial connection to the majors. These companies often concentrate on a small number of artists, within specialised niches in the industry known as ‘independents’.

 

Most record companies organise themselves internally into several key areas:

 Artists and Repertoire (A&R)

 Marketing/Artist Development

 Promotions

 Legal

 Financial

The industry as a whole has a complex relationship with a number of different media and puposes. Radio, TV, Print media, Film, New Media. There is a synergy and symbiosis that helps to represent and is reshaping fans expectations, who can be a recording artist / performer and the brand image of bands and record labels.

STINGRAY

Stingray was formed early last year (2008) they have been fighting through the dog eat dog world of the music guns blazing in their own subtle and mysterious way. Early this year they suffered a loss of their keyeboard player who was involved in a car accident, this seemed to have a great effect on the band, there was a sweep around in their music, thir style and image completely changed. Only now have they decided to get back on the metaphorical horse and are releasing their new album named "pistols at dawn". They have put a great deal of energy into trying to keep the new album of the illegal music black market, and have kept it shrouded in its own mystery.