Third Draft!

Here is the third draft of our music video that we have finished today.

Feedback!

This is the feedback we received when we showed our second draft to the group of year 9 students that we originally showed our pitch to. 


Effective camera work.
Good - Really liked the shots where you focused in and out, and the speeding up/slowing down of shots.
Really good! :)

I liked the props and the smashing, glitter, smoke etc. It portrays the dark effect. 

Good slow motion cup scenes.
Well set out, well planned and portrayed.
Very good! :)
I liked the narrative in the different parts and the things getting smashed up looked really good.
Good location and props.
Song fits, good editing, good location, fits the Alice in Wonderland Theme.
I liked the coloured powders.
Seemed professional/well made.
Good ideas, good setting, matched the song.
I loved the outfits because they really fitted the song and it's a really good music video.
I liked that you had the same person playing chess on both sides. 
The music was good and the video fitted it really well.
I thought that the mirrors and the "blood" pouring into the cup was good. 
Very detailed and co-ordinated, very good overall, no negatives.
Good song, well set out, like how you have done it in slow motion at some parts.
It's really good :)
Good ideas and good camera angles.
Good costumes and setting.
Flashing images and people appearing was very interesting and made it a lot better. 
I particularly liked the powder paint and the smoke. 
I thought that it was really good and reflected the song's feeling. 
It was good but it would be cool if you threw a rock at the bass drum to break the skin but that could be expensive. 
Could have had a bit better acting but it was good.
Certain images may require darkening in order to fit the genre and theme.
Get a variety of different camera angles for each shot, also flit between some shots a bit quicker.

More flashing images maybe? More rock like if you do flashing images. 

Could use a freakier set.
I thought that making Alice overturn the dinner table would have suited.
Maybe do a scene where it's quite dark to make it seem more dark and mysterious.
The song is very dramatic so more action would be better such as a fight at the table.
Could have a birds eye view for more camera angles.
Could make it more scary.
She should look in a long mirror then start smashing it.
At the end it should show her finding the way out of the forest and smiling. 
Band could be a bit more enthusiastic.
Words too out of time with the singer.
A bit repetitive on the scenes, needs something a bit different.

Editing!

We have all worked together these last two days and have followed Rosy's detailed storyboard, which means that we have managed to finish two drafts of our music video! 

This is the first draft. 

We then showed it to two groups: a year 12 class, and our year 13 media class. We chose these classes because we wanted to get the opinion of people in the age range of our target audience, and also the year 12's could give just a general typical audience opinion, whereas the year 13's could give us more technical feedback as they are A2 students like us and they are going through the same task us so they might have good ideas for us to improve. 

We then made some changes based on the feedback we received, and this is our 2nd draft. 

Filming!

We did our filming on Sunday (22nd September) and we were out from 10 till 7, so it was a long day, but it wasn't too stressful as the band members helped carry props, and we had an extra friend who came to help us. 

The green trees are the woods where we filmed the video. We had to carry our props and equipment to the different parts within the woods, but luckily we got all the shots from the storyboard done in one day, as well as some extra ones in case we didn't like the way some of the planned ones turned out.
Because we were smashing things and we were in a tricky location (and Alex had some pretty high shoes on!), we had to be very careful so that none of us got hurt. We made sure that when people were smashing things they stood far enough away, and when we had finished the shot, Sam (the guy who acted as the lead singer) cleared all the broken pieces away. And with regards to the tricky location and Alex's shoes, we all took it slow when climbing up the woods and over obstacles like rocks and trees, and Alex took an extra pair of shoes that were flat so when she wasn't being filmed she would be able to be safe. 

Overall I am really pleased with how the filming went, and we were so lucky to have great weather. The sun came through the trees and made the shots look very bright and wonderland-looking, which was great because we didn't plan that and it means we won't have to add too many effects in the editing process. Now I can't wait to get it all edited so we can see the finished product. 

Storyboard and Shotlist!

Rosy was in charge of our storyboard, and she put a lot of detail into it so we know exactly what we're filming and where we put it when editing it. 

She also did a shotlist in the order that we're filming it on Sunday so that when we film it I know exactly what I'm filming and hopefully we can get it filmed quickly and smoothly. 

Pitch!

http://alexandrahaleya2media.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/pitch-for-our-music-video.html

This is a link to a video where me and Alex did a pitch for a year 9 class and it includes their feedback. 

Preparation For Filming!

The powder paint arrived today, and I have just packed all the props, costumes, and camera equipment in preparation for filming on Sunday. We're all so excited and ready to go, just hope the weather is okay for filming! 

I've checked the safety information on the powder paint to make sure we know what to expect when we throw it, and I think we'll be okay, as long as we wear clothes we wouldn't mind if they got stained. 

I made "Drink Me..." labels for our bottles, as this is in the Alice in Wonderland story. 

I also dyed some rose petals red to make them look creepy so we can use them in the tea party scene. 

I borrowed a lens for my camera so I can film the extreme close up shots in better quality. 

These are the lists of things we all need to bring for filming.

Lyric Analysis!

There are the lyrics for our song "Her Name Is Alice" by Shinedown. 

("If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense")
("Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't")

I invite you to a world where there is no such thing as time
And every creature lends themselves to change your state of mind
And the girl that chased the rabbit, drank the wine, and took the pill
Has locked herself in limbo to see how it truly feels

To stand outside your virtue
No one can ever hurt you
Or so they say

Her name is Alice (Alice)
She crawls into the window
Through shapes and shadows
Alice (Alice)
And even though she's dreaming, she knows

Sometimes the curiosity can kill the soul but leave the pain
And every ounce of innocence is left inside her brain
And through the looking glass we see she's painfully returned
But now off with her head I fear is everyone's concern

You see there's no real ending
It's only the beginning
Come out and play

Her name is Alice (Alice)
She crawls into the window
Through shapes and shadows
Alice (Alice)
And even though she's dreaming
She's unlocked the meaning for you

This kingdom,
Good riddance,
Good freedom
And innocence
Has brought this whole thing down

Her name is Alice (Alice)
She crawls into to the window
Through shapes and shadows
Alice (Alice)
And even though she's dreaming
She's unlocked the meaning

("Red nights, white knights, marching into the fight")
("Drink me, shrink me, fill me to sink me")
("Red nights, white knights, marching into the fight")
("Drink me, shrink me, fill me to sink me")

She's unlocked the meaning for you

("And contrariwise, what it is it wouldn't be")
("And what it wouldn't be it would")
("You see?")

Taken from http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/shinedown/hernameisalice.html

We're going to pay close attention to the lyrics of the song when filming and editing our music video because we want to try take certain lyrics and have shots of things that represent the lyrics.
"I invite you to a world where there is no such thing as time" - a clock to represent the time.  
"drank the wine, and took the pill" - Drink me bottles. 
"She's unlocked the meaning for you" - We're having a key appear throughout our video and at the end she will throw the key to the mad hatter, and this will suggest that it will open the chest that is on the table, and if she is unlocking whatever is inside the chest. 
"Red nights, white knights, marching into the fight" - We will have chess pieces appear to match the chess part in the Alice in Wonderland story. 
"Her name is Alice, She crawls into the window, Through shapes and shadows" - The chorus will be quite dark to match the dark theme of the lyrics, "shapes and shadows", and there will be shots of Alice trying to find her way in the woods. 
"This kingdom, Good riddance, Good freedom, And innocence" - For this bit we will have the band members holding these cards for the corresponding words, and they're in a font that looks very fancy to match the fonts used in old books, like Alice in Wonderland. 

Risk Assessment!

Here is our risk assessment. 

Permission To Use The Song!

http://alexandrahaleya2media.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/permission-request.html

This is a link to Alex's blog, showing that she emailed the companies that own the song asking for permission for us to use it for our music video. 

Update on Music Video Filming!

This weekend our group has been super busy sorting out plans and props so that we will be ready to film our music video next weekend (Sunday 22nd September). We have all collected things like cups and clocks, and Alex has got some shoes to wear and a pack of cards, glitter, and a key. Rosy has got some bottles, cups, and a clock. I ordered some powder paint today and also got some teacups. 
We have the people for our band, and we have made sure they can play the song and know all the words. 
Here are some pictures of the things we have so far!

Mood Board!

Mad Hatter!

Here are some photos of me as the Mad Hatter, and this will be the costume I wear in the music video. 

Song Change

Originally we were going to do a music video incredibly similar to the Up In The Air video by 30 Seconds To Mars, and the song we were going to use was going to be Planetary (GO!) by My Chemical Romance. Halfway through the planning stage we realised we were practically copying the 30STM video, we were also struggling to find a location, and we decided we would rather have a narrative in our video. Rosy came across the song Her Name Is Alice by Shinedown, and we decided that we loved the idea of doing a video based on the Alice in Wonderland story, with a much darker feel, like the game Alice: Madness Returns by American McGee. I personally am really excited to have a theme to base the costumes and props on, as we are still going to use the ideas from the Up In The Air video where they filmed random objects and used slow motion, but we are going to use Alice In Wonderland inspired objects (like teapots and clocks and little bottles that say drink me) and we were thinking of maybe smashing them to give it that darker feel. 
Here is a link to Alex's blog where she has put screenshots of our group conversation when we decided to change songs. 
http://alexandrahaleya2media.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/teamwork-planning.html

Band Profiles

Shinedown

Band Members: 
Barry Kerch - Drummer
Brent Smith - Vocals
Zach Myers - Guitarist
Eric Bass - Bassist/Pianist

Albums: 

• Leave A Whisper (2003)
• Us and Them (2005)
• The Sound of Madness (2008)
• Amaryllis (2012)

Genre: Alternative metal, hard rock, southern rock, heavy metal, alternative rock, post-grunge. 

Origin: Florida, USA

Truth of the Fallen

Band Members: 

Rosy Armitage - Keyboard

Abby Haley - Drummer

Sam Snowdon - Vocals

Kane Mitchell - Guitarist

Kathryn Snow - Bassist

Albums: 

• Fairytales from the Unknown (debut album 2013)

Genre: Alternative metal, pop-rock, post-grunge

Origin: Yorkshire, UK

We chose the name Truth of the Fallen because we wanted something that fitted with the music our band performs, so we looked at other bands names that were similar, and found that they all had very meaningful dark names, such as Bullet For My Valentine, Bring Me The Horizon, Black Veil Brides etc. We thought of the word fallen first, and tried band name generators, but couldn't find anything we liked on there. We then had the idea of having something to do with reality in it, and looked for synonyms for reality, and found truth. We chose the black background and the white text because they're quite a dark band, and the white stands out, and then we liked the font because it's quite creepy, which is the image we want for our band. 

Analysis of Music Videos: Inspiration

Thirty Seconds to Mars - Up in the Air (2013)

This is the music video that has inspired us the most for our own music video. I personally love the high quality shots of interesting people and animals, as well as the colourfulness of the costumes and props, because these all help to keep the audience engaged throughout the whole 8 minutes of the video. The range of amazing things used in the video, eg. the zebras, show off how much the band actually have to spend on the video, and gives the band an image of being popular and successful. Obviously we won't have this kind of budget, so we will have to think of different props and costumes that we can use to show a different kind of image for our band. The band appear throughout the video, which helps the audience associate this music with the band, so we will use this technique in our video to help link our band with our chosen song. I think the slow motion is a great technique to use because it makes it look very professional (if done right!) therefore making the band look better. Synchronous cuts have been used to match the music at certain points, for example when the music gets faster there are lots of short clips with very fast cuts to match the building up of the song, and when the song slows down/stops there is a slow motion shot of a gymnast in the air, which fits perfectly with the song. Finally, the video is purposefully very colourful because the album they have just released with this song on is very colourful (the cover is just lots of different coloured spots) so this helps give the fans something to associate the music video with the band. 

You Me At Six - Lived A Lie (2013)

We have also taken ideas from this video by You Me at Six. There are lots of close ups of the band performing, and I like the idea of having the extreme close ups of the eyes because I think that looks very artistic. I also like the close ups of the singers lips as he is singing, and as long as we match the lip syncing up perfectly with the song, I think this would be a good thing to have in our music video. Again, like the 30 Seconds To Mars video, there are synchronous cuts, so as the song gets faster and more instruments join in, the cuts get quicker and at one point the shots change on every beat of the song. The band are all wearing similar clothes, and they are all black/grey which matches the night time setting and dark, gritty location they have filmed in which gives the band an image of a dark rock type band. When the song says "We are believers" the band are all walking in a line with straight faces looking down the camera, like they are marching, which matches the marching band in the song, so they have thought about matching the lyrics to the video and I think we should have a look at the lyrics of the song we are going to use and think of things we can include so that the video matches with the song.