KM - New scene filmed!

Myself, Asa , Sophie & our actor James Newton have filmed today. Our location was Ilkley Park, all we did was film another scene for the boyfriend and girlfriend, this will be shown also as a flashback in our video just before the break-up, this as well as the rest of our 'flashback' shots will be shown to the audience in Sepia.

To add both tension, or scenery shots, we filmed a small variety of shots, including ducks, to do so we threw bread at them, once we had a group of them I threw some bread into the river, causing them to splash and make a fuss, we will use this shot when a key change int he song occurs, or it can also signify the tension between the couple. It's only a simple shot but it adds to the shot variation.

Behold ducks!

SD - Editing decisions within the first minute of the music video

Throughout the first minute of footage for the music video there have obviously been decissions that we have made. We decided to use a shot of Mel that is a straight forward medium shot from the front we wern't origionally going to include this shot but due to the bright light shining down on her we thought it looked high end and glamourous a key convention in pop and mainstream chart music in general so we have now included it.

There is also a section of the video in which Katie and James the girlfriend and boyfriend are sitting at the dinner table talking and laughing we origionally thought that this clip was too long and because marks are awarded fr shot variation we should cut it down or split it and have a section of performance inbetween although Asa's argument that the clip should be included in full because it flows well and shows the couple looking natural and creates a sense of realism which we agreed was a fair point. Many other decissions were made as we have loads of footage that we could of used although as it is is simply a rough cut we have time to change smaller decissions in the video later. We have now handed in RoughCut1 which is a minute long to Dave and he is going to play it to the class tomorrow so we can get some feedback.

AN - It's over 100! Blog Post 100: Rough Cut

To celebrate my 100th blog post, here is a short rough cut of our music video which shows what we plan to do with the narrative and performance parts of the video.

Although this is only a rough cut, it isn't a full one. For what we have left to add/film we need at least two more date scenes, more shot variety during the final date and the break up, and the aftermath of both main characters.

In terms of tools, we used the Sepia tool in order to make the video black and white. This was done in order to signify a flashback. The rough cut is basically the intro of the video with a primary focus on performance and narrative. Varying between the two.

KM - Possible Magazine Ideas Continued...

As well as finding the Beyonce advert, I also came across this advert, it is not for a magazine advertising any concert dates, but it is advertising their fan club.
Giving the reader the information they will need when accessing the website and what there is to offer for anyone who would like to become apart of the fan site.
The picture is striking, and is the first thing you see when looking at the advert. The colour scheme is a lot different to Beyonce's perfume advert, but this shows me as well as the reader how different you have to make a advert for a solo act in comparison to a girl group.
This advert has definitely helped with ideas for our own advert, helping us see where we can place the picture, how big it should be in comparison to the information given, and how much information you should give.

Here we have a magazine advert which can give us
ideas for specific colour schemes or poses the band
members can use.

KM - Possible Magazine Ideas

Although this Beyonce advert is not for her album, or Destinys Child's magazine advert it is infact advertising her perfume range.

The pose, is a very powerful strong status that her fans know is a typical famous and well known fact of Beyonce and the image she often gives off. The clothing is revealing and therefore does apply to the male gaze, although I don't really want to use this for my magazine as I believe you can still get a male audience behind you without the use of the male gaze. With Beyonce looking straight at you it gives a almost personal, intimidating feel towards you, however in a good way, as in you will feel more strong, confident and powerful if you wear her perfume brand.

Her clothing is in relation to the page layout in general, with the 'laser' looking light beams crossing the page, the clothing is also quite sharpe and bright. In particular i notice this witih the common theme of the warrior look from the clothing and light beams relate.
The colour scheme all round is blue, i love this effect as it works well with the perfume bottle being blue, and myself and Sophie have both agreed on the colour scheme for our digipak to be blue . The different contrasts work well by also standing the page out by using the colour blue and the diferent lighting is eye catching.

The very little text on the page gets the the point for the viewers as when flicking through a magazine they dont want to have to read paragraphs on end ust too find out the name of the product, what the product is, and what brand it is. All of these factors are stated clearly in white text to stand out even more, as well as the larger font.

ALL - Blazing Grace Update Vodcast

Here is an update on what is happening with the products we are making. The digipak, magazine ad and the music video itself.


Untitled from Katie Mallows on Vimeo.

ALL - Behind the Scenes Vodcast 16/02

Here is the behind the scenes vodcast about filming at Katie's house and our plans for the future.

SD - Digipak Layout

As we have decided to make two prototype digipaks, Asa making one and me the other my prototype is nearly finished with just the glitter to add on top of the text. I have already made one digipak although i didnt use a stencil when using the glitter pens which just ruined the effect and it looked messy and unprofessional so ill buy some stencils tomorrow and finished post with pictures of the digipak will be uploaded tomorrow. I went for quite a simple design like mine and katies plan pictures with pale blue paperboard Destiny's Child in large glitter font at the top of the cover and a photo of the band below, the back of the digipak features a photo of destinys child from behind although id like to change this to a picture of our cast of Destinys child taken from behind them holding hand and walking into the distance.

Inside the pigipak features the words associated with relationships and love in the centre which will be in black and white like newspaper text and then the two cd cases will be either side the left one featuring the songs by Destiny's child which arnt upbeat but slower and the right side cd contains our music video. Track listing will be shown on the left face when looking at the digipak from the back

AN - Shooting 16/02/12

Today we did some more shooting. During this session we got our very own Katie to star as the girlfriend since we had trouble finding a replacement for Francesca and we've abandoned the third role because of time constraints. As for what we filmed, we took care of the last date sequence and the break up itself.


We used a variety of shots to during filming. These included, high angle, low angle, over the shoulder long, mid and shot-reverse shots. By doing this, we are able to show a variety of shots with our video so that we aren't lacking.

As you can see here in this image, this is our attempt at the broken frame (it's the a cheap one from Boyes so don't ask about the lack of an actual frame).

With the break-up, last date and boyfriend's break-up aftermath filmed, all we need to film now is three more date sequences and the girlfriend's aftermath and we're done.

SD - Digipak Materials

Most digipaks are made from paper board or card and contain either a plastic or card CD/DVD trays internally. Previous digipaks that have been released by the band include ones with titles which include 'Number1's' 'Best of Destiny's Child' 'Soul divas' and 'Bye Survivor' Our digipak will be named 'Emotions' which will contain the track and music video on one CD and on the other their will be other down beat releases that they have produced.

The Digipak 'Survivor' is a Carbon neutral edition (which means that it has a net zero carbon footprint which refers to achieving net zero carbon emissions by balancing a measured amount of carbon released with an equivalent amount sequestered or offset, or buying enough carbon credits to make up the difference) making the digipak 'green'

Our digipak will be made of pale blue paperboard and silver and gold glitter will be used for the Track listing on the back of the digipak and for the Name of the digipak 'Emotions' aswell as Destiny's Child or DC in italic swirly font.

SD - My new Narrative idea - change in story line.

Although we have shot the performance aspect of the music video, we still have concerns about the narrative aspect. Our original idea were going to be one or two 'dates' in which the actors Francesca and James would act like a stereotypical couple in a good relationship. We were the going to have the chorus of our chose track Emotion followed by another narrative aspect of the couple arguing the reason for this argument was going to be because James the boyfriend) had been cheating on Francesca with a waitress at the restaurant he had previously taken her to resulting in the couple breaking up.

The new idea is going to involve instead of a third actor (the girl that worked at the restaurant that James cheated on Francesca with) we're going to do a date scene in which James will have to leave suddenly and will leave his phone at Francesca and she reads his messages and finds flirty messages from other girls, this will cause her to smash the photo of the couple which will be shot as a close up on the floor. She will then call James' house phone later on and arrange to meet the following day to return the mobile at a restaurant where the final argument and break-up will take place.

AN - Digipak Feedback

Today I got feedback for my prototype digipak and although, the physical look was praised (i.e. the product being a 6-panel fold out with disc sleeves I got quite a bit feedback concerning the look of it.

• Use more ICT skills. i.e. layering
• The two inside middle panels have a long shot of the band members.
• Smaller text
• Represent emotions in the digipak.
• Across the three inside panels, we have three different shots of a champagne bottle with a picture of Michelle on the bottle.
• Next we have the bottle with a picture of Beyonce's face along with two filled up wine glasses.
• In the last shot, the bottle has Kelly's face on it and the bottle is empty with an empty glass and a broken one.
• Background is too dull.
• Feet on the panel behind the main one.

Here is the digipak prototype:

Front cover

Inner panels

Hidden credits panel (unfinished)

Back cover

KM - Editing Tip!

Just a quick post to say that today whilst editing I have found out that if you click on the Motion button in the viewer section of final cut you can rotate a clip, or if you look at the scale section you can even zoom in to your clips!

AN - Altered Video Idea

Today I spoke with my Media teacher concerning problems with filming and he suggested that due to problems getting actors, our group needs to alter the idea a bit. Here's a list of points he made concerning this:

• Use the Year 10 cafe area to film the restaurant scene and use props such as cutlery, plates and food etc.
• Have romantic conventions such as guy pouring drinks for each other and pulling a chair out for the girlfriend to sit on.
• Have a total of 3 or 4 dates with the last date being the argument.
• Cross cut shots during the argument to show conversation between couple.
• Have one of the dates be a picnic, possibly to add humour due to the snow.
• Have the boyfriend blindfold the girl and take her to the restaurant.
• Linking in with the picnic point, denote the couple as ignoring all of the negative annoyances in life.
• The couple meet each other by accidently bumping into each other, dropping their phones and end taking the wrong phone. (Have to be the same make/brand)
• One of the dates could be at the riverside with the couple feeding some ducks.
• Could use some extras for the restaurant scene to make the place seem more lively and add to the realism.
• Have a scene where the couple are cooking and being playful at the same time.
• I need to use the codes and conventions of rom-coms to make this idea work.

Looking through this list of ideas, I will implement most of them into the video and maybe abandon the idea of a third actor.

SD & KM - Behind the scenes of filming performance (costume choices)

In this vodcast we discuss the choices we made regarding clothing, although it does not include the second costume choices we decided to include later on. The three actresses changed from the white dresses shown above to deeper reds and purple dresses which signify sex, love and passion a countertype of white that is plain and shows little emotion. The actresses come together at the end and become stronger like a unity shown by the colour change to powerful rather then the white, fading into the background.

Untitled from Katie Mallows on Vimeo.