Contract of Employment

Due to creating a new music video, it meant that my actor/artist, Dan Greenway, had to sign another contract of employment due to the previous one being terminated as stated in it's terms due to the production being finished. Therefore he signed the same contract again to confirm that he will be working on this production as well.

Task 9 - Casting - Gone

For my production I only needed a single actor. This is to portray both the character in the narrative as well as the artist as they are meant to be the same person.

Therefore, I contacted a friend of mine who is doing A Levels in acting at Birmingham Ormiston Academy to see if they were interested and thankfully they were. This means I have successfully filled all possible roles and cast members for my production.

*Note: this is the same as the casting from the previous music video (King Of Anything) as only the narrative and song have changed. However, the narrative still only requires one person.

Task 8 - 'Gone' Music Video Final Proposal

I intend to create a music video for the song 'Gone' by Asking Alexandria. The title of the production will be as follows:

Dan Greenway - Gone

The channel best suited to broadcast this music video would be K! TV. This is because this is the TV channel for the radio station Kerrang! who owns multiple subsidiary radio channels. They are the biggest rock and metal broadcasters in Britain. It'd be something that they could broadcast at any time of the day as it is an easy going song.

The target audience for my song has already been discussed in my 'Task 4 - Target Audience - Gone' blog post but will quote it below nevertheless.

"Age: 15 - 25

Gender: Predominantly Male

Religion: Atheist

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Social Class: D/E

My target audience, according to the descriptors set out by Young and Rubicam, are strugglers. They are alienated from society and have limited skills away from physicality. A lot of their expenditure goes towards alcohol, junk food and music related clothing, by this I mean band t-shirts as stereotypically these kinds of people wear nothing but band shirts and wristbands. They will usually wear skinny, black jeans accompanied by shoes such as Vans and Nike. A lot of the time they will dye their hair black and the females in the audience will use make up to take on a pale complexion but they'll use exaggerated eye liner.

When looking at Mosaic's descriptors, the audience fits into the, O65 and O66 categories. A lot of the time they are young students, often going to university which can explain why they fit into the 'struggler' descriptor. These students who are struggling for money often have an issue with the world and take on more liberal views, and when it comes to elections they'll usually vote for Labour or the Liberal Democrats or not vote at all. As well as this, because of their lack of money they are extremely unlikely to vote for the Conservative party due to their austerity measures. When it comes to food, they'll be purchasing non-perishable food from places such as Aldi and Lidl due to how cheap it is, things like Pot Noodles and Super Noodles and tinned foods such as soups, baked beans and tinned hotdogs, however they wont even purchase 'Heinz' soups and beans they'll purchase the shops own brand. They will however spend more money on things like energy drinks than they can really afford, buying lots of Monster energy and Redbull. When they eat out it'll be at extremely cheap places such as weatherspoons that often offer 2 for 1 meal deals and their diet in general will not be very good, often eating fast food. They will also not have the money to go on expensive holidays, they're more likely to take up on one of the cheap holidays that the Sun newspaper offers. If they have a car it'll be second or even third hand and it will most likely be 2 door with atleast 60,000 miles on the clock. They will be using 'Daz' washing powder as it is cheap and other, higher end, products are out of their price range, or alternatively give their dirty washing to their parents to do.

My target audience, despite not being wealthy do have an income. They will inevitably receive a student loan will most likely work part time, this gives them a small amount of expendable income that they will use on such products as purchasing music. If my audience did not have this available expenditure then I would not target them with my music video as the long term goal is to convince them to purchase the music by my artist."

The video will be a combination of performance and narrative. It fits into it this category as it will tell a story whilst cutting sporadically to the artist singing the song at the same time. This will make it look professional as most music videos today are a combination of the two, this is to convey the meaning of the song to the audience whilst keeping them engaged with performance scenes.

*Note this is the same as my previous final proposal as it is a similar genre and style of song. As well as this, nothing logistically has changed. The changes that have been made are the song and narrative.

Creative Journey - Entry 8

In this instalment of my creative journey I will discuss:

• Locations
• Target Audience
• Storyboarding
• Role Allocation

Locations

I knew that I wanted to film in roughly the same locations as the previous music video. However, I knew that I wanted my location to be clearer and more representative of the narrative I was pursuing.

Target Audience

To research into my target audience I looked into Young and Rubicam, as well as Mosaic, to find information about people likely to fit into my audience. It revealed things such as what newspaper they're most likely to read, how old they are and what their social class is.

Storyboarding

After my last storyboard, I decided to hand draw it this time so they were clearer. It also meant I was not limited whatsoever in what I could put on it as I was drawing it, not using an online program.

Role Allocation

The role allocation for this production was identical to that of the previous music video as nothing had changed.

Task 7 - Role Allocation

As I decided to take this project up on my own, and work without a group, I will take on every role involved in the production of my Music Video. This will entail me being a director, writer, camera person, editor and researcher, thus making me an 'Auteur'.

Auteurism:

An Auteur is someone who oversees so much of the production of a media product, they become the Author. Auteurism started in France during the late 1940s as one of many cinematic theories created by Andre Bazin and Alexander Astruc, later being called 'Auteur Theory' by american film critic Andrew Sarris.

*note: this is the same as the previous role allocation post as nothing has changed regarding roles from the previous production.

Task 6 - Storyboard

Task 4 - Target Audience - Gone

Luckily, for my new music video the target audience remains the same. This is because the songs are relatively similar and come from similar artists. People who subscribe to this kind of music are very similar and the diversity within the fan base is minimal.

My target audience:

Age: 15 - 25
Gender: Predominantly Male
Religion: Atheist
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Social Class: D/E

My target audience, according to the descriptors set out by Young and Rubicam, are strugglers. They are alienated from society and have limited skills away from physicality. A lot of their expenditure goes towards alcohol, junk food and music related clothing, by this I mean band t-shirts as stereotypically these kinds of people wear nothing but band shirts and wristbands. They will usually wear skinny, black jeans accompanied by shoes such as Vans and Nike. A lot of the time they will dye their hair black and the females in the audience will use make up to take on a pale complexion but they'll use exaggerated eye liner.

When looking at Mosaic's descriptors, the audience fits into the, O65 and O66 categories. A lot of the time they are young students, often going to university which can explain why they fit into the 'struggler' descriptor. These students who are struggling for money often have an issue with the world and take on more liberal views, and when it comes to elections they'll usually vote for Labour or the Liberal Democrats or not vote at all. As well as this, because of their lack of money they are extremely unlikely to vote for the Conservative party due to their austerity measures. When it comes to food, they'll be purchasing non-perishable food from places such as Aldi and Lidl due to how cheap it is, things like Pot Noodles and Super Noodles and tinned foods such as soups, baked beans and tinned hotdogs, however they wont even purchase 'Heinz' soups and beans they'll purchase the shops own brand. They will however spend more money on things like energy drinks than they can really afford, buying lots of Monster energy and Redbull. When they eat out it'll be at extremely cheap places such as weatherspoons that often offer 2 for 1 meal deals and their diet in general will not be very good, often eating fast food. They will also not have the money to go on expensive holidays, they're more likely to take up on one of the cheap holidays that the Sun newspaper offers. If they have a car it'll be second or even third hand and it will most likely be 2 door with atleast 60,000 miles on the clock. They will be using 'Daz' washing powder as it is cheap and other, higher end, products are out of their price range, or alternatively give their dirty washing to their parents to do.

My target audience, despite not being wealthy do have an income. They will inevitably receive a student loan will most likely work part time, this gives them a small amount of expendable income that they will use on such products as purchasing music. If my audience did not have this available expenditure then I would not target them with my music video as the long term goal is to convince them to purchase the music by my artist.

Gone - Locations

Because my music video for Gone is based around suicide, depression and death I decided that it would be a perfect idea to open the video up with scenes from inside a church and it's graveyard outside. This, accompanied with the intro to the song, allows the audience to believe they know as to what is going to happen before the narrative even starts. As well as this, it draws them in with the impressive nature of the building.

Like the last music video, I will need to be filming inside the house of my actor. Therefore we will be using that location again as I still believe the location gives of distressing vibes which are essential for setting the scene to my music video. The whole narrative for this music video will be filmed inside the house as it features the artist having a breakdown and doesn't require him to go outside. The other factor that played into this decision was the lighting issues experienced in the first music video.

Creative Journey - Entry 7

In this entry I will discuss:

• Asking Alexandria 'Gone' Lyrics Analysis
• History Behind The Song (Gone)
• Mind Maps

Lyrics Analysis

I analysed the lyrics to the new song verse by verse, helping me come to a decision on the narrative for the music video I would produce.

History Behind The Song

I also thought it necessary to look into the genuine meaning behind the song. I found out that it was in fact very different to what my interpretation was, yet this did not deter me from my plan.

Mind Maps

My mind maps helped me to decide on a narrative, through a chain of three mind maps each becoming more detailed as time went on, I was able to develop a clear and powerful narrative.

Task 3 - Mind Maps

The mind maps in this image show a chain of progression, building up to what becomes the final mind map which is then explained in further detail in my synopsis. This process has allowed me to give my new music video a meaning, one that I can create and feel strongly about.

Task 2.1 - History Behind The Song (Gone)

The song 'Gone' by Asking Alexandria carries multiple meanings.

It's actual meaning as explained by Ben Bruce, who wrote it, to Sumerian Records is that it's about Chris Holley. Chris was his best friend and Guitar Technician for the band and suddenly passed away in his sleep on tour.

Here is what Ben said in the interview:

"'Gone' is probably one of the most emotional songs on the record, or for me, I’m not sure if a lot of people know- I’m sure people do, showed up dead, but not just my best friend, he was my best friend but he was my guitar tech for a long time, and he passed away this year. He passed away doing what he loved, you know, he was out on tour, having a blast, just one of the best dudes you could ever wish to meet, or be part of your life, even if it was just for a small amount of time. 'Gone' is just, I guess it’s my song, just singing to him, I guess my goodbye, trying to make peace with it even though I’ll never be fully at peace with it. It’s just a message to him telling him that we love him and that he’ll never be forgotten, and that the song’s been stabbed into the books of history- that song’s been printed, pressed, and it’s out there forever. So, it’s kind of our way of keeping Chris alive through music, which was his passion and his love."

However there is another interpretation that can be drawn from it. The band split with the lead singer Danny Worsnop after a spat in 2015. The album which was released this year was predominantly written in anger by Ben Bruce about the departure of his friend, but when the new singer (Denis Shaforostov) joined the group he convinced Ben to rewrite the album. However this leads fans to believe that the song is also still written about the falling out.

Interview mentioned - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vVpBWtdOqU

Task 2.1 - 'Asking Alexandria - Gone' Lyrics Analysis

"Every day I awake
I await my fate as the sky turns blue to grey
Now I understand it might be my last day
Might be my last day
Now I understand it might be my last day
Might be my last day"

This verse tells us that every day he wakes up he feels depressed due to his current circumstances. He said that it might be his last day, hinting at suicide and not being able to cope. This is a reference to the loss of loved ones as well as the fact that men are often not allowed to express their feelings leading to higher suicide rates.

"So what am I supposed to do now I've reached the end?

And if I gained another chance, would you still be there?"

Here he is calling out for help, to anyone, but no one seems to answer. He then directs a question towards someone but it is not obvious who. This allows the audience to make up their own mind, and allows them to link the song to their own lives.

"Please don't be lonely when I'm gone
I've been so sad for far too long
And as I gently slip away, this song will always stay"

The chorus of the song appears to take the form of a letter, a goodbye letter, something commonly associated with suicide and depression. He doesn't want to make a fuss about dying as he feels no one cares anyway, hence 'gently slipping away'. This is his only escape.

"For now, this is my goodbye

So what am I supposed to do now I've reached the end?
And if I gained another chance, would you still be there?"

Here he repeats a previous verse but at the beginning he sings "For now, this is my goodbye". This brings about a whole new range of connotations. Is he actually talking to someone that he has lost as and is saying that he will see them again in heaven when he dies.

"Please don't be lonely when I'm gone
I've been so sad for far too long
And as I gently slip away, this song will always stay"

Therefore after the previous verse, the chorus leads us to thinking that the song may be a conversation between the singer and the person who has 'died'.

Creative Journey - Entry 6

In this Creative Journey I will discuss:

• The Editing Process
• The Music Video
• The Decision To Start Again

Editing Process


After filming, I needed to edit my footage into the final product. I imported it all into Sony Vegas. I felt the editing phase went well in terms of cuts, and syncing it to the song but not so much on colour correction.


The Music Video


Once completed, I took my music video into the class to get feedback from my peers. The overarching theme of the criticism I received was that the colour correction was not correct. I then took it back home to edit it again but to no avail, the lighting in the shots was simply incorrect and unfixable in the post production phase.


The Decision To Start Again


This lead me to the decision to start again, I believed that instead of trying to fix this version, I have time to start from scratch again, using parts of the research and planning from this music video on the new one such as the allocation of roles and casting.

Decision to create another music video.

After filming and editing my music video, I came to the conclusion that I was not happy with it and believed that I could do better to achieve a higher grade boundary. After much thought, I decided it would be a good idea for me to do a song called "Gone" by the band 'Asking Alexandria (embedded). I have a vision for a strong and clear narrative on my head and I also think I can portray it much better than the one in my original piece as it was too vague and I didn't have enough time to tell it in.

In this new production only the narrative and song will change. This means that I will still be an Auteur, I will still only require one actor and thing such as Target Audience, Broadcast Channels, Regulation, Genre, Casting and Role Allocation will remain the same.

What will change however are Mind Maps, Storyboards, Production Schedules and potentially Permissions.

Dan Greenway - King Of Anything

Editing Proccess

After gathering all my footage i uploaded it to Sony Vegas Pro to begin the editing process. First of all, I had to create the project file for the film to go into, part of doing this is setting up the ratio and frames in which I will be creating the video, and it is of upmost importance that this matches what the film was shot in to avoid 'ghosting'.









As I shot more than was necessary, and there were unsuccessful takes I had to search through the footage before finding the desired ones. I had a total of 25 minutes of footage to sort through and even after discarding the shots I didn't want I still had excess footage. This allowed me to develop the narrative as best as possible, trying out various shots in various places on the time line.

The first task I decided to undertake was the title sequence at the beginning of the video. To do this I created 3 more layers over the top of the footage I'm using for the intro. After that I chose a font which I found online and began to type out the titles 'Dan Greenway' and 'King of Anything'. However, just having the titles appear on the screen without any transition was dissatisfying and didn't have the professional look I was aiming for. So, I then set about timing transitions on the intro to make it look as good as possible. I decided the text should fade in over the top of blurred out footage in the background. After doing this, and timing it right I watched it back but it still didn't look as I desired, there was an empty space in the middle of the screen that needed filling up. I decided that two, thin white lines should fill the space as it looks modern and professional as well as seperating the artist's name and the name of the song.

After creating the titles, I then worked on ordering the rest of the footage. I ordered it into what I thought told the narrative the clearest and had performance sections spread out evenly too. After deciding that the order was optimal I then went about colour correcting some issues I had noticed when watching the footage back. To correct the colour of the footage I had right-click the individual shots and select 'media event fx' which then allowed me to add a colour corrector to it. When presented with the colour corrector I had to use the tool to lighten the dark shots, and darken the light shots to create a single, similar light theme.

I am now at a point where I was confident with my work and decided to render the footage, completing the editing process. To do this I simply clicked 'file', then 'render as' and selected the rendering option that matched what my footage was shot in, and what the project file was created in (1080p).

Creative Journey - Entry 5

In this entry to my Creative Journey I will discuss:

 

• My final proposal
• Casting for my music video
• A contract of employment
• My risk assessment

Final Proposal


I delivered my final proposal, discussing everything that I needed too such as my choice of song, themes I want to explore and why I chose this song. As well as this, I engaged my audience by handing out storyboards that I had drawn as well as annotated lyrics so we could discuss the connotations of the song. From this proposal I received feedback from my classmates who gave me both praise and constructive criticism which I will use to further improve my production.




Casting


Casting for my music video was very simple, I had previously asked an old friend if they'd like to be part of my production. I chose this person because they are taking A Levels in acting and would be the best person for the job. To confirm their position I created a contract of employment discussed below.




Contract of Employment


I created a contract of employment detailing that my actor is to receive no pay and are acting purely voluntarily. It also detailed the length of their contract as being indefinite/until the filming phase was finished.




Risk Assessment


Before going out to film my music video I had to create a risk assessment which acknowledges all the potential risks, their severity and the safety procedures I will put in place to prevent the risk and also how to respond to it. I did this by creating a grid with a form of scoring system to determine the severity of each risk and then columns detailing the potential risk and what my response will be.