Group Work: Representations/ Who Will Be In Our Video

Task Done by Jody

Shooting Schedule/Script

Week 1

Monday -          Periods 1 through to the end of lunch
                         (Abul and Hannah, intro, verse 1 and pictures together)
Tuesday -          Lunch
                         (Additional touches to monday)
Wednesday -     Period 5
                         (Chorus)
Thursday -        After school till 5:30
                         (Amaan's verse)
Friday -             Lunch
                         (Additional touches to Friday)
Saturday -         N/A
Sunday -           N/A


Week 2

Monday -          Periods 1 through to the end of lunch
                        (Amaan's second chorus)
Tuesday -          Lunch
                        (Additional touches to monday)
Wednesday -     Period 5
                        (Outro)
Thursday -        After school till 5:30
                        (Abul verse 2)
Friday -            Lunch
                        (Overall touches)
Saturday -        N/A
Sunday -          N/A

Group Work: Member Roles

Me - Sound
I have the role of sound. I feel as though I know the sound of hip-hop very well therefore would suit this role.
This role entails me having to provide the music and making sure the sounds/music are correct and fully synced in the video. 

Jerard - Director
Jerard is director as he feels that he has the eye for those certain angles and shot to use and can make a
This will give Jerard the duty of directing the music video.

Jody - Editor
The reason for this is Jody has experience with editing videos, therefore suited this role well.
The role for this will be to edit the music video into its final piece. 

Kyle - Cameraman
Kyle too has the same eye as Jerard but from a cameraman's perspective. Also he has a steady hand and has recorded thing in the past for other projects.
The role will consist of Kyle having to film the music video, take any pictures and record any filming that will be included in the music video. 

Logo Progress

(Kyle)


Logo  

In order for our artist logo to appear in our music video I had to make it digital. From the logo which I designed on paper I had to scan it into my computer so I am able to edit it on Photoshop to make it look more professional and transparent so it could be used in the beginning frames of our edited music video. We aimed to make it transparent so when we edit it on Adobe After Effects we could add smoke in it or show the set to make it more effective and similar to the set which is going to be shown.

After I scanned it in I opened the image on Photoshop. At first I was going to use the 'Quickmask' tool like I did in AS to cut out the background however I used the 'Magic Eraser' tool as it was more efficient, quicker and easier to use that gets rid of the background in one click. From here I had to use the 'Brush' tool and paint over the letters making sure I re-sized and followed the outline of the logo. 

Firstly, I used a bigger sized brush to mark the basic outline of the logo however leaving the edges of the letters until later when I re-size the brush. From here I zoomed in and changed the size of the brush to outline the edges of the logo making sure I had a steady hand so I don't mess up and getting the logo right. 

I made sure that any small details I would leave to last as I would need an even smaller brush to reach into the detail, especially the scorpion which would be the hardest part of the logo and some of the splatter marks. After I finished the outline of the text I changed the size of the logo and did just this.

Again I made sure that I did the outline first as it would be easier then to fill in the text at the end with a bigger brush. During this process I did the outline of the scorpion, the splatter marks and any other small details.

I then changed the brush sized and filled in any remaining spaces. To make sure the image the background remains transparent so you can add any background behind it, I had to make sure I saved it as an PNG file as a JPEG wouldn't work. This was the final outcome, and your able to put in in front of any background.

An example of it working

From this logo I decide to make a second logo, but this time the letters transparent. Either one of these logos would be useful for either our music video or digipaks. This time I had to use the 'Magic Eraser' again but this time in reverse, however I found I came across more problems. First of all because the first logo was on a white background when I deleted the text I couldn't see it and when I saved it you couldn't tell if it worked and also it would cause problems when putting in our music video as we planned to but it on a dark background but it was currently saved on a white background. Although it could be perfect for our digipak, it meant I had to keep going over it, learning from my mistakes and trying something different.

My next problem I tried to get rid of the background and replace it with a black background however when I tried to same with the logo the black background camouflaged the logo as it was covering the transparent background. Again I tried again and this time I was experimenting and came across the 'Dodge Tool' which allowed me to lighten the text instead and replace the background with black which worked. The logo came out this silvery colour which I decided to save because it look really good and could be used for a digipak. I then deleted the text which gave me the transparent background.

This was the finished product, and works the same as the first logo but in reverse.

An example of how the second logo works

I repeated the same process with the record label logo as it is important to keep a certain house style and to avoid copyright issues. For the Def Jam logo I made the text transparent to make it consistent.

An example of how it works

Group Work: Film Shoot Preparation

The following photos are of our exploration of the set and the diameters that we could film up to and mark so when we film we don't overstep them and get something we don't want in the shot. In this stage we tested the lights and how the set will look when we are filming our final piece. We also came across a couple of unusual effects that allowed us to use later on in our music video.

Group Meeting: Friday 13th November / Storyboards

Prior to this meeting, we had gathered earlier in the week to discuss ideas for the story board as one pf our given tasks. I had taken up the task of drafting the first few ideas for the storyboard and writing them up in our treatment to accompany the storyboard. Bradley had taken up the task of writing the synopsis of the video; a brief description of the video and what would happen. Kyle had taken up the task of doing the location recce, which included looking at the sets for any dangers/hazards. Jody had taken up the task of adding detailed research into the record label we had chosen and why we had chosen it.

With the storyboard ideas, we had similar ideas in terms of the beginning of the song.

Jody had pitched the first idea of having the artist's name in bold in a black background with the set being seen inside the letters. We all had the same suggestion for the beginning and agreed to put it on there.

With the second shot, I suggested that at one point there be a high angle shot of RICO. The others had suggested the same with Bradley and Jody suggesting we have money on the floor at that point as well. For the third shot, we all suggested that there be an extreme close up of RICO's mouth as he raps a certain part of the song. As we became conflicted with what to put in next, we decided to gather our own ideas that Friday and then pool them in together in order, rather than having to come up with it as we went along.

On that Friday we had each brought our own ideas to the table, me and Bradley had brought our own storyboards while Kyle had a video to show us. 

Bradley's storyboard of up until near the end of RICO's first verse

Bradley had added a few suggestions to the storyboard, with a shot of money being blown from a fan off set, while there are shots of the video vixens posing and a shot of the vixens either side of RICO sitting on a throne. Although we agreed that the shot of the video vixens and RICO in those positions worked due to the authority shown through RICO's posture and the vixens either side of him resembling servants, the rest of the shots, including the ones of the video vixens on the floor.

Jerard's storyboard of up until near the beginning of RICO'S verse

With the beginning, I interpreted the idea of having the graphic of words at the beginning and expanded on it, with the artists name, song title and record label all being included, with the set seen inside the words. I then added a shot of RICO walking across the first set, as part of the abstract direction we were going in the video. The other members of the group suggested that we have money on the floor at that point. I agreed and noted to include it on the next draft.

Jerard's storyboard page 2

With the next shot, I included an extreme close up of RICO's mouth as he begins his verse. This was to obscure the full view of RICO's face to create a building up effect. This shot would appear throughout most of the verse until the beat drop. Meanwhile, I included the shots of RICO in the first set with his hand in the air at the line "blessed" in the middle of his verse. The other shots were medium shots of the both the video vixens posing while looking away from the camera, I hadn't decided fully on what those poses would be but Jody had suggested to change the shot to ones with them and RICO together. I suggested against it as the interpretation was that they weren't the the subject of the song, but then he suggested that the vixens not interact with the artist. This worked as they did not need to draw any attention away from the artist but they add value to the scene as it is part of the themes that hip hop artists rap about in their music. On that note, Jody had also suggested moving that shot to a different one where there was a different line as the line currently in place didn't link with the shot at all.

Jerard's storyboard page 3

With the next shot, I wanted the graphic of the lyrics to appear just when the beat drops. The line "Whichever comes first" is the line just before the drop and it emphasizes the arrogant attitude that hip hop artists have as he is able to brag about having the luxury of expensive choices. This line is significant then, and is the reason I thought it would be a good reason to add as another graphic with the same effect of having the set seen inside the letters. The others agreed with this idea and w moved forward.

The next shot, although written as a tracking shot is actually supposed to be a hand-held medium shot of RICO performing his verse after the drop. I suggested this as I thought it would deliver a dynamic view of the performance with the beat having dropped and creating a "hyped" atmosphere. This would also be another shot that continues with the verse up until the chorus. An example of where this also appears is in Jessie J's video for Wild which also features Big Sean.

Medium shot of Big Sean using hand held camera movement. This adds to realism in the scene and involves the audience as well.

The other cuts I wanted to include were of low angle and high angle shots to appear at specific moments, for example in the 12th shot there would be a high angle shot of RICO on the line "...father forgive me these are all my confessions" to suggest a point of view from the "father" he is referring to (religious link). The group agreed but also suggested that we would need more cuts so that it wasn't just empty space of RICO in the hand held shot. Jody had suggested that there be cuts to the video vixens in specific poses. He also suggested there be shots of RICO where there are two of him, in reference to the line "I treat the beat like its a reverend". This would be similar to the original video where Big Sean is seen talking to a reverend. 

Example of editing technique used in the original video where Jody had the idea from.

Another example of the editing technique Jody had mentioned where the multiple versions of the artists are frozen in place from where he was before.

Although we hadn't drawn them up, we had some ideas of what to do with the 2nd verse including Drake. I suggested that we included a smoke machine to produce smoke across the floor, something that was also used in the original video (although enhanced with effects). We also had ideas of having the video vixens in shots separated from the artists, which also appeared in the original video.