Weekly Progress

This blog contains my weekly progress for the Component 3, music video project  

Music Video Project Timeline

Week 1 : In this week we were given a brief on what the project is all about and what we will need to create. To me this is exciting but at the same time scared because of my previous project. I was put into teams and I believe my team is good as we are strong with our own advantages. In the first week me and my team decided on what genre we want to do, and in order to decide me and my team did a preliminary research to understand all of the other genre before choosing. 

Problem: In this week the only problem we had was choosing the genre, as we were thinking whether we should do pop which has a very wide artist choice while RnB have limited amount of artist that are girls as we as a group were planning on making one of my team member to be the actor / artist. 
Solution: We decided to not fully research on known artist who are considered in the RnB genre but other artist who made songs in that genre but their popular songs are not RnB. This made the research more easier and we get to have a wider option as different artist have different styles. 
To do: Before the next lesson, I should finish putting all my research into the blog for both the preliminary research and the genre research. 

Week 2 : In this week we started on planning which song we wanted to do, as my team has suggested several songs but we narrow it down into 3 different song. In order to pick the song, we decided to have a discussion on each music video and we would say things that we like from the song and what ideas can make from it. We also added several things that we think from the music video is cool but it was not realistic, as doing this will allow us to find several alternative if we were to implement that idea to create a good but with the budget that we have. We continue the genre research as it was more better to do 6 music video that gives more ideas on what to do and what to follow the convention of an RnB music video. 

Problem: For this week there was no problem at all, as we were just doing our research. Picking the songs as well was narrowed down easily without any disagreement.
Solution: -
To do: To start on research before next week so we can start on figuring out storyboard and everything like ideas for the music video. 

Week 3 : In this week we continued our research as it was not finished from last week, while I was done researching I started looking for ideas on the music video and compile them as a draft of ideas that will be pick and get inspiration from. This researched allowed me and my team to talk and have an understanding of the conventions we need to do and especially understand what kind of feeling we want to create in this music video. I started on creating the storyboard but only with simple paper form writings on simple ideas that we all combine together. 

Problem: This week the problem that I encounter is that I was very busy especially in having several exams that took time out of the class time in which I missed out on a lot of the classroom lesson and even the project lesson time. So I was dragging my team down with a slow progress on the project. 
Solution: I decided to work on it after my exams in which I would not be behind in the project timeline but instead I would match them. Which this week showed how doing that helped and it made my team has a lot of progress on our music video project, especially in planning and starting on storyboard and moodboard. 
To do: Continue making the storyboard 

Week 4 : In this week we started to do our statement of intent as it allows us to brain storm and have the same idea on what kind of aesthetic / feeling that we are going for. With having a statement of intent we were able to have a specific goal. Especially the deadline to finish this statement intent was only for a couple of days in which us as a team had to really finish and make an idea that we all agree to be put to the statement of intent. We also started to talk about our artist and what kind of aesthetic she would be good in. We looked through several artist albums using Spotify as the platform and we have several ideas that we want to do. I also found an application called ShotStager that can help me with my storyboard, this is a new application which I would want to try out and see whether is is useful or not. 

Problem: There were no problems in this week as for group work. Where as for me I was trying out the new application and the software allows drawing but because I didn't have a drawing pen that connects to my laptop it was a challenge
Solution: Because that I needed to draw, I decided to use what I have which is my laptop's touchpad. Turns out it wasn't as bad after all but it will only take time. 
To do: Work on the storyboard again but this time using ShotStager

Week 5 : In this week we learn about persona as it is important for creating our artist personality on and off screen. We also started on our location scout where we started brainstorming on ideas on where the location would be that would match our artist persona. We eliminated places that we think are too far or it doesn't match our aesthetic. 

Problem: There wasn't any major problem other than simple hard to find the specific location that we want but we fixed it easily by asking suggestion from our friend. 
Solution: -
To do: Work on the storyboard again both online ShotStager and hand drawn. 

Week 6 : In this week we started to finish off on our moodboard after having an agreement on what the characters aesthetic would be like, the moodboard was a fun activity and discussion that I did as a team because we get to combine to focus more on the things we needed to finish like the storyboard and location scout. As my team and I were shocked by the deadline being only 1 week to finish off the moodboard, location scout, storyboard and classwork it become a challenge. As I am in charge to do the storyboard I had to finish off my online storyboard and drawing it on paper again in which this become a 2x work, plus I had several activities outside of school that I need to do so I had to juggle everything before the deadline. Especially with the deadline to finish recording was before school start and our artist will not be available during the whole school break we needed to record faster than what we expect to do. So this week as well we did our first scene which was the further location that we planned on recording. This week was a busy week but I manage to handle everything and use my time wisely to finish everything. 

Problem: Both of the actors were late during the shoot and this made us lose precious lighting at the location. Other than that in the place there was not as crowded but there were workers who were cutting the grass in which we can hear the machine in the background of our shoot.
Solution: Our original idea of the park would be bright but because of the timing we decided to make it a sunset aesthetic which still match our moodboard and idea so that problem is fixed. We decided to change the whole plot line for that scene to not have conversation on that scene but instead it would be more lip syncing instead. 
To do: Start scheduling for the filming schedule to shoot again next week and the week after that to finish recording faster. 

1st Semester Reflection: This weekly progress has been use for several of the others that I have done in which this weekly progress really helped in making sure that the list of things that I needed to do are on track and especially it allows to have a reflection of things that has happen throughout the progress in the making of this project and it reduce the chances of making the same mistakes. Other than that this weekly progress can be forgettable sometimes as for me I was too focused in doing the task that I needed to do, in which I missed out on 3 weeks of weekly progress reflection. It was hard to try to remember everything that I have done but I manage to figure out what I have done in that week because of the group chat with me and my team member where we discuss about our progress often.  

Recap throughout the break

Summary: During the break, me and my team decided to record several other places in order to start editing faster and if there are clips that need to be re-shoot we would still have a lot of time. As we had internship during the break the time availability of each member was very hard to manage so my teammate Kellie decided to record several parts in different places with our other actor Karl where in this scenes it would be a POV shot were it was possible to be done by Kellie. While not only that we also shoot in the record cafe before Kellie had to go abroad for holiday, even with little time we were able to shoot a lot of shots and as well photos to be used in the instagram. 

Problem: During this whole break was not being able to match the schedule properly as we all had different shifts during internship and different time finish. Other than that Kellie had trouble in putting the videos in the google drive so I had to figure out a way to put in the google drive but still keeping the quality without it changing. In one of the shots Kellie and our actor Karl got stuck in traffic so our original shooting time was delayed, with the little amount of time I had to think what to decide on doing. 
Solution: As we weren't able to match our schedule properly we decided to agree when someone is available to shoot or finish at the same time we would try to fit in a time to record in which thats what I did before Kellie left. Even though it was in a rush but it really useful for the first part of the editing. As Kellie had trouble in putting the video into google drive, I decided to ask if she could send the video in HD quality through Whatsapp and move it to google drive. Even though some videos went well in the transferring but the rest was still very grainy. As Kellie and Karl were late, I decided to think quick which scene would be the easiest and fastest to do so the complicated part would be the last. By doing this it allows me to filter through the scenes that would take a lot of time to do the last. 
To do: What I need to do once the break finish is to ask Kellie to airdrop the videos in order to receive the high quality version of the clip in order to be able to start continuing on editing. As school will start everyone will be available and have the same schedule so we as a team would be able to record several other clips to either re-shoot or film a new scene. 

Continuation of weekly progress after the break 

Week 1 : In this week was different, as we learned about persona and brand identity of an artist / celebrity. This topic that we learned allows my team and I to understand more about brand image and how they show themselves in public through their image in different ways. We had a classwork on this topic which allows us to discuss and understand our artist more by how to convey the same message throughout different platforms that will be used such as social media and music video. Other than that we also learn about a new theory called Theory of Stardom, where this theory taught me how the image / identity of stars are not accidental but are created by media to attract audiences and drive profit for their brand. As a class we were ask to create a research on any artist we wanted and understand how they were shown through media using the theory of stardom. This week as well I also have continued editing, I enjoyed editing the video as it was new and I get to experiment on different colour grading technique in which I learn through the brand identity of my artist. 

Problem: This week the problem that I encounter was in editing, as I started editing there were several videos that was too fast and too slow which made a lot of continuity error. This is caused by my own mistake during shooting. 
Solution: In order to create a smooth flow, I decided to try out several different styles which by doing this I was able to make a good intro without needing to reshoot the scene. 
To do: Continue editing. As Kellie will come back next week, we will be able to record other scenes and as well start with the instagram page. 

Week 2 : In this week we created the audience feedback question in order for us to get feedback and as well to see if our video matches our audience. This feedback question was created as a team which allows me to gain more insight on my team members idea of our artist persona and whether we also have the same idea of artist. On this week as well our team member Kellie just came back from her holiday, to which we were able to continue planning on our filming that we haven't finish. As we haven't recorded the second park scene that we planned on doing we decided to find a day that we were all available which would be during the weekends. We we were not able to shoot inside the museum so we created a different plan to record in a cafe as well as Kellie's House. 

Problem: This week as we did some additional shooting, our teammate Kellie was late with our other actor to which this made us lose sunlight 
Solution: So instead of needing the sunlight, we decided to record in a place where the sunlight is most seen or just a hint of sunlight to create that dreamy effect that we were looking for. 
To do: Start creating the music video draft and ask for feedback from teacher and friends to see whether it would suit their likings or not. 

Week 3 : In this week we decided to re-film some part of our scene as during class we showed our teacher our progress and he made suggestion in order to create a more smooth video. 

Problem: We re recorded the record cafe video because of continuity edit to which it took a lot of time to re-shoot because our actor couldn't remember his line and kept messing it up. As well as this time that we shoot the beach scene making us lose sunlight especially as it had rained while we were in the record cafe. The beach scene didn't match with our moodboard nor does it match with our theme. 
Solution: During the record cafe, in order to get the specific video I decided to just let my team member Kellie and our actor to be alone to make it more realistic as if our actor was talking to our team member Kellie which is the actor. As for the beach, we decided to use whatever we have left because we had to try to finish recording on the day because I needed more time to edit the clips. So instead I decided to do color grading on the video to make it almost like the beach scene we wanted. 
To do: Finalize the Instagram post editing in order for Kimora to be able to post it on the social media. 

Week 4 : In this week it was fully project lesson as our deadline for the social media, digipak and music video was due on the 31st of January which it is the end of this week. We started to continue with our progress which for me I decided to continue with finishing up small edits of the tv screen from the editing and as well helped Kimora with editing the instagram post. On this week as we realized the project was almost due, we 

Problem: 
Solution: 
To do: 

My Team

 This blog contains my team for the music video project

Cassie: https://cassie-regentsmedia.blogspot.com/
Kimora: https://kimora-regentsmedia.blogspot.com/
Kellie: https://kellie-regentsmedia.blogspot.com/

Reflection: This project is new to me, even though I have work with Cassie and Kimora as a group before but Kellie individually this creates a new opportunity especially understanding each others perspective to create the project. I am excited for what me and my group will do for this project.

Brief

 This blog contains the brief for the component 3 project

Reflection: This brief of the project makes me excited for this project as I have been waiting to use my creativity and especially it would be a fun project listening to people that will be in my groups perspective. 

Final Documentary and Thumbnail

This blog contains the final documentary introduction video and the thumbnail.

Thumbnail: 

Documentary: 

Critical Reflection (CR)

This blog contains the critical reflection of the documentary project. 

CR 1 - How do your products represent social groups or issues?
CR 2 - How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?
CR 3 - How do your products engage with the audience?
CR 4 - How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

My team and I produced a crime documentary opening titled The Final Bell: Thirteen Seconds along side with a thumbnail. This documentary follows the incident of a school bombing that was caused by an unexpected student.

Branding is a way to create a label or identity of a certain media, and it is important because it gives the audience a main idea of what the product is about and audience will recognize the creation easily. In my documentary The Final Bell: Thirteen Seconds, the thumbnail (fig 1) and the video worked together to create this branding; where both used muted colors to build a serious mood. Bold fonts and an "Alarm clock" font where it gives an effect where the text looks like a time to emphasize the text "thirteen seconds". A CCTV-style footage is used as a background to set the crime documentary tone, where during the making I added a glitch effect of a VHS to add the low quality camera of a cctv. This was done to add hermeneutic code where the unclear chaotic scene creates with a dark tone makes it a mystery and they would want to watch more. The thumbnail was meant to be the hook that introduces the main idea while the intro of the documentary explains the deeper meaning of the title, this is use to encourage the audience to stay until the end. However, because of the lack collaboration between my team and I with our own busy schedule we created the thumbnail last minute which took a lot of my time especially in helping with finding pictures while juggling to finish the editing. Even so, the idea of consistency between the thumbnail and video was clear.

(Fig. 1, Thumbnail)

As I research through different documentaries following the crime documentary tropes, these strongly influenced these choices. I noticed the way they used bold typography, eerie sound, muted color palettes, and glitch or CCTV editing to build suspense. I conformed to these conventions by using handheld shots during the scene of the students having fun, muted tones, and eerie background music to create realism and tension. The editing choices that I use for the edits was jump cuts which helped in going back and forth to the day of the event and the interview which create instability. At the same time, I subverted conventions by making the bomber a girl, which challenges the stereotype of male perpetrators usually shown in crime narratives. This mix of choices and challenging conventions made my product recognizable to the genre while creating the documentary to be unique.

The target audience for my documentary was teenagers to young adults of any gender with the age range of 14 above, because they are the most likely to watch documentaries and they are closest to the school environment. Having the age range to be 14 and above is used because my documentary contains scenes and footages that conformed the convention of most crime documentaries, where there may be unsettling and violent imagery that are shown. To appeal to them, I showed teenage characters by using handheld shot (Fig. 2) from school footage that was taken as well as social media chat overlays (Fig.3) to reflect their daily lives. Where in the thumbnail it uses CCTV footage, chaotic environment of students trying to run away, and the title choice is used to raise curiosity. These hermeneutic codes made the audience question who the blurred person was and what the title meant, encouraging them to watch further. The documentary follows Uses and Gratifications through personal identity, as young people can relate to the school setting and bullying and social relationships where this shows the dynamic between the bomber and the victim. 

                                                                 (Fig. 3, Social Media)                                                 (Fig. 2, handheld)

Finally, the issue raised in my documentary was about bullying and how it can affect people long-term, even leading to extreme consequences such as a school fights, cyberbullying and in this case school bombing. This issue was shown by the teenagers perspective where using handheld footage (Fig. 4 & 5) this shows both the happiness of friendships and the cruelty of bullying. In the documentary the choice of styling and uniforms was used to create realism, while from their behavior it showed both positive and negative sides from students life. Teachers were shown as authority figures who are close to students but fail to notice the signs, as represented by how they reflect on missing the warning signs and feels devastated. This representation shows that jokes and actions can have consequences, and that teachers need to go beyond their role to truly understand and help students before it is too late. 

                                                     (Fig. 4, bullying, fighting)                                                 (Fig. 5, happiness of friendship)

Thumbnail (Research & Development)

This blog contains the thumbnail research and development for the documentary project which was done by me (Tisha) and Kristine

Thumbnail is important to be applied into visuals, which in this case is the documentary. Before audiences open a documentary it needs a hook and a thumbnail is the first thing that they will see. Thumbnails are use to attract viewers as it gives a brief idea of what the documentary is about. To attract viewers are not only from the design but it has a lot more than that. The choice of image being use needs to be chosen carefully as it needs to be relevant with the content of the documentary and the style of font for the title of the documentary where a font can express the emotion and feeling of the documentary to the viewers. 

Here is a presentation that consist the research and development of creating the thumbnail.

Thumbnail Research & Development by Jyotisha

Edit

 This blog contains editing process for the documentary project where it was made by Tisha.

Pre-production: Editing by Jyotisha