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

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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)

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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

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

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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.