Final Cut

Evaluation of Rough-Cut of Pop Promo

After completing the rough-cut of our Pop Promo on Final Cut Pro we discussed the strengths and weaknesses of it. We established the strengths and weaknesses of the piece as well as deciding the next steps towards our final cut. We agreed that the sequence’s initial strengths were the shots containing ‘stop motion’, which were effective, however in the next stage of post production we need to use a split screen effect to incorporate a band member and the ‘stop motion’ effects within one shot. The structure of the rough cut we also decided was successful and there was a clear through line and message behind the promo, the wide shots used contributed to the structure and ultimately make the performance element clear and engaging as well as maintaining continuity. Despite our ‘lead singer’ being unsure of the lyrics we managed to find enough shots and sync him ‘singing’ successfully to the track. However, the weaknesses we found within the promo are the panning/tilt shots containing a ‘hand held’ element, we decided that these shots did not fit with the concise cuts throughout the promo and also made it appear to be a ‘home made’ film and therefore appear less professional so the fundamental next step is to find alternative shots. We also need to tighten the cuts between each shot and sync it to beats within the track to make the promo run smoother. Finally we agreed that the transition from the living room to the studio needs to be bigger, we will achieve this by incorporating white frames on the shot in after effects and ultimately making the transition stand out more. We also wish to place further emphasis on the ‘Marshall’ poster as it provides the concept that the band ‘dream’ of ‘making it big’ and links to the ‘Marshall’ amplifiers used in the final set suggesting that they have ‘made it’. Overall the rough cut it is a decent first cut and with the required changes I am sure the final sequence will be successful in portraying our aims behind the promo.

Permission from copywrite to use Floursecent Adolescent

To Domino Records,

We are a group of A Level students working on an A Level project for a qualification in Media Studies. We are writing to request permission to use the following track as part of this project: Fluorescent Adolescent - Arctic Monkeys.

With your permission the track would be used as the accompaniment to a short form video that is made purely for assessment purposes and will have no commercial usage. The video will be viewed only by members of the school community and the assessor of the examination board. The artist and the copyright holder will of course be fully recognised in the pre-production and evaluation material that accompanies the project. We can also include a full copyright notice if required both in the planning material and on the video itself.

Yours sincerely, Amy, Lainy and Chloe
Hurtwood House School

---

Thanks for the email Lainy, Amy and Chloe,

In principal I have no problem with this usage. However, could you please advise me the slant/direction of this project.

Many thanks, Geoff Barradale (co manager of Arctic Monkeys)

---

Geoff,

Thank you very much for the positive consideration of our request. The video will form part of a portfolio of work put together as part of a unit focusing on marketing in the music industry. Our concept for the video is to chart the rise of an indie band through the changes in their environment. The video will be performance-based, but the set will change over the course of the video from teenage bedroom to recording studio. We wanted to use a track by the Arctic Monkeys because we felt their music and their story perfectly encapsulate the dreams of thousands of bedroom musicians. We intend to use actors from our school as the band members who will lip-sing the track, although if Alex and the boys would like to come and star in the video themselves, we would be delighted to welcome them for the day! The video project and accompanying portfolio will be assessed by our teacher and the exam board, but we would be delighted to send you a copy when we have finished. I hope this gives you the information you need. We can provide any further information or guarantees should you require them.

Best wishes, Lainy, Amy and Chloe

---

Amy, do you have a number I can call you on please ? Or you call me
Best Geoff

---

After we received this email, we spoke Geoff to reassure him that we would not be portraying the band negatively. He simply wanted to talk more about the concept of the video and gave us information about the bands background which gave us further material to work with.

Account of Shoot Day

The morning of the shoot day we arrived in the studio to our already prepared set. This was helpful as this meant we had a more time for shooting. However, costumes and makeup took much longer than expected and we did not start shooting until 11.30am. As we began shooting we found that following our storyboard was more difficult than expected and we had to simplify the our shots and create other images which would look more effective. For example in the opening shot is in a bare room to give us more time to build up mess. We all positioned our lead singer lying on the floor as a tribute to an Oasis video, we then included close up shots of his face with mess appearing in stop motion beside him. We also cut the build up of amps and guitars in the final setting as it looked cleaner and more professional. However, we still kept to our initial concept. We used three cameras to shoot our pop video rather than the two we had previously decided, using three would made it more efficient and gave us all more of an opportunity to get involved in camera work. We all also took part in setting up and directing shots as well as controlling track playback.

We feel that our shoot day was a great success because we efficiently completed our task of shooting all the footage needed for post production. This was an achievement because of the delayed start. This was heightened due to that our lead singer was unsure of the lyrics and timings which meant we had to continually retake shots. The band portrayed the correct image that we intended to present to our specific target audience and fitted the image created by the genre and fitted well together as a band. They presented good chemistry although they are not a real band. Although we had problems getting the band members in the costumes we wanted them to wear, due to a small conflict with the band, we were satisfied with the final look. The best thing about our day was that the sets looked great and we were really proud to have got hold of large 'Marshall' amps, rather than the use of posters of amps or small ordinary amps as we had previously expected. The elements of the day that we would change having got the chance would be, to get slightly more prepared in the morning with getting the cast into the costumes that we felt were appropriate for our video. We also wished that we could have achieved all of our shots faster than we did although we were very relieved that we fundamentally managed to get all of the filming done in one day because we thought we would be delayed. I would have had more of a positive attitude at the times which were stressful or tiring but overall I believe the shoot day was success and on the whole an enjoyable experience.

Digi-Pak

This is our initial idea for our digi-pak. The inside right panel is where the CD will be kept, we plan to have a base colour for a background covered with either tea stains or chalk smudges. This links to the mess within the music video and gives the band a 'carless' image about everything other than their music. We want the smudges to be similar to this-

The back cover is similar to a shot within our video of the lead singers feet and lower legs with a dirty mug beside his foot. This further links the digi-pak to the messy-nature shown in the video. It also highlights how the band are alternative as the audience are not continuously shown images of the band which differs from mainstream artists' digi-paks. The back cover also shows the title of the tracks on the disc as well as our production company name. We were inspired by this back cover of a digi-pak-

The front cover depicts the band positioned next to one another as well as the track name and band name. However this was discussed and to avoid the band appearing too stereotypical to boy bands we have decided to present them as edgier and fresher. We decided we want to depict them on their set (bedroom) playing their instruments. This will show how their main passion is music and will also help the target audience to relate to them. We want to show how they started out in their bedrooms like other aspiring bands and to also have a link with the video for the track. This photograph of the Arctic Monkeys and also one of their digi-pak covers inspired our own ideas-

















The inside left panel depicts an overflowing ashtray. This will further highlight their messy nature shown in the video but also give them a slightly 'rock and roll' image similar to The Rolling Stones or The Libertines.

Animatic Feedback

After screening our animatic, we were given feedback. Predominantly it was positive, telling us that our drawings were artistic and clear which portrayed our video effectively. Our animatic gave a clear indication of our vision for our music video.
We discussed and decided that we will use two cameras in our shoot. One for wide shots placed at a slightly high angle and the other for the close up shots of objects building up, appearing and disappearing. This will help to emphasise the changes throughout the video.
We also discussed the camera and the quality of the image in the video and decided to use a camera with a stylistic grainy quality at the start of the video to give the effect of a handheld camera, we will then use a camera with good quality images towards the end of the video to further emphasise how the band has become more successful and sophisticated.

Costume

Ideas for first outfit-





























Lead Singer
First Outfit
T-Shirt
Skinny Jeans
Black Plimsolls
Parker Coat
Second Outfit
Blue Cord Shirt
Smart Trousers
Chelsea Boots


Guitarist
First Outfit
Black Polo
Black Skinny Jeans
Hi-Tops
Grey Hoody
Second Outfit
Checkered Shirt
Dark Trousers
Chelsea Boots

Bass Guitarist
First Outfit
T-Shirt
Jeans
Plimsolls
Second Outfit
Checkered Shirt
Smart Trousers
Boots
Cardigan

Drummer
First Outfit
Fitted Jumper
Jeans
Plimsolls
Parker Coat
Second Outfit
Shirt
Dark Jeans
Chelsea Boots



Idea for second outfit-














Girls
Ripped Tights
Dresses
Coats (Denim/Leather)
Boots
Blouses
Big Shirts
Big T-Shirts
Fishnets

Props List

4 x posters
1 x beer keg



1 x sofa or armchair



6 x picture frames



1 x bin
8 x lads magazines (Nuts, FHM etc)



1 x fireplace
9 x dirty plates
6 x cider bottles



1 x marker pen
7 x guitars
1 x base guitar
35 x cigarettes



2 x ashtrays
3 x shelves



16 x photos
9 x t shirts
8 x trousers
1 x table
5 x champagne bottles



3 x wine bottles



1 x headphones



6 x mugs
5 x pairs of shoes
5 x socks
4 x coats
7 x newspapers



9 x amps
5 x drumsticks
1 x stool
5 x knives and forks
6 x pillows/cushions



4 x pairs of spare shoes
1 x platinum disk framed
1 x rug
1 x throw



1 x drum set
2 x microphone stands
2 x microphones
3 x lamps



4 x pegs in wall for coats
10 x guitar attachments for walls
25 square metres of wallpaper
also leads as required

Shoot Day Schedule

This is our shooting schedule for our shoot day to maintain the order of our shoot and make sure we keep organised and aware of our shot order. We will shoot our video according to each shoot plan. We will set up each stage and then film all the individual shots between each set to maintain continuity. Each different set (shoot plan) is shown below in order from start to finish. These show where our props will be placed in the room as well as the position of our cast.

Cast List

This is a list of people which will be in our music video including pictures. We have picked these people as they fit the image we are trying to portray.



Band Members
Singer Luke Chapman











Guitar Josh Jackson












Bass Will BH












Drums Will Edgley



Girls

Molly Astley











Lillie Resta

Feedback

Very good, Lainy . Full of detail and intelligently evaluated. Your preparation and planning are clearly linked together in the discussion you've provided.Well done!

James

CD, Adverts, Posters and Digi-Pack Research

The Foals


The Foals have a similar image to our band named The Factory. This similarity is in the way they present themselves and their style of music with a similar indie genre. The Foals use a distinct way of producing an album cover so that they are continuously recognized just by their font. They use two particular fonts. The first font that they used on their album and singles represents them being young and is alternative which is shown in the picture below. This font was also used in advertisements about them until they produced their second album.






The second font that they used is plain square capital letters which suggests that they have matured and are more sophisticated. This was used on their second album and also advertisements since their second album was released. At this point in their careers they were no longer an independent band, they have built their fan base and are now more commercialized and 'mainstream'.




Their CD cover font corresponds with the font that is used in an advertisement made to promote the bands' perhaps new identity. This font is a symbolism of the band. This is also the case for other bands such as The Libertines.

The Libertines


The Libertines for example, also use a particular font and style of design on their CD covers and adverts. The writing is slightly broken up and put at a slant to each other. This represents their crazy, shambolic ‘do it yourself’ attitude. It is designed to show their individuality rather than be a part of the institutional machine. It also shows that they are highly influenced by the Sex Pistols, The Clash and the ‘punk’ era.




The Kooks


The Kooks are another band with a similar image to our own. They have the same style of music and a similar dress sense. We are highly influenced by them into making our digipak. Taking into account the font of writing which must be continuous and a similar colour scheme on all of ‘The Factory’s’ CD’s, we want to use a similar type of style as The Kooks and Arctic Monkeys. Here are some of there CD covers which they have used.





It is also show through adverts that the same theme is used, for example, in the Glastonbury Advert below, the same font is used as well as the black, grey and white colour scheme.





Arctic Monkeys

The Arctic Monkeys seem to have a running theme of black, grey and white. We want to represent our bands image with similar artwork, however although we want to show that they are sophisticated and alternative, we also want to represent that they still have a ‘messy’ streak about them. This CD cover below is the biggest influence to us and after a group discussion, we have decided to do a black and white photo of our band (to show sophistication) with a font to show their influences (perhaps slightly 60’s) as they are clearly influenced by guitar bands of the 60s such as ‘Love’ and ‘The Stooges’. We also want to use a similar smudge effect as the CD cover below. Although they are not widely known, they have a sizable cult following and are clearly influenced by other bands which are likely to be appreciated by their target audience and fan base.