We begin filming :)

Our group went to a band practice of Splutter - the band we have chosen, to get some footage of where they practise. The clips we got show the band as urban, i.e. practising in a basement/cellar, the lighting was quite dark which links to the music genre being like rock/indie.

We took some still pictures whilst we were filming to show what the setting was like, and to give an impression of the band itself.

The footage we filmed will be put in our music video, in between the narrative action we are also going to film, so it will jump between the telling of a story, to showing the actual band. This gives the impression that they are singing the song about an actual person, and we are showing images of his life, matching with the lyrics.

Postmodernism Ideas

Postmodernism is to make reference to other elements of media within our media project, these can be from films or other music videos, games and more.

Our video is going to have some postmodern aspects to it, our main features of postmodernism, that we will use are references to social networking sites for example 'Myspace' 'facebook' and 'twitter'
The lyrics also make a reference to the game 'call of duty'
We are hoping that through these references being made in the song lyrics, the target audience will know the references being made and understand the links without us needing to make them too obvious.

Storyboard and shooting schedule

We have created a storyboard with the different shots that we plan to film, however this is subject to change depending on our ideas and opportunities to film. As we are only in the planning stages, it is quite a rough plan of our ideas, which will be adapted and improved as our work continues.

Our first three sketches introduce our main character to the audience. Our first shot showing the protagonist from the side, making it clear that he is on the computer. This straight away gives an impression of our main character as a gamer, a stereotype that our music video will be centred around.

The second shot shows our main character still at the computer, this time from an over the shoulder shot, therefore giving the illusion of time passing.

Our third shot switches from the protagonist at a computer to playing a video game in what appears to be his bedroom. This puts the main character in his 'natural' environment, and indicates what is clearly the most important thing in his life - gaming.

Our next set of shots, shows that the action in our video switches from narrative to non-narrative, and so here we have included shots of the band. The first picture shows a long shot of the entire band, allowing the audience to take in the setting, the fact that the band are playing in a basement, connects well with our chosen music genre.

Our second shot is a close up of the band's singer, reminding the audience that it is first and foremost a music video to promote the band, and so the band themselves need to be portrayed.

The third shot shows close ups of both the bassist and guitarist, when the music demands it. So when there is a guitar solo in our chosen song, we shall use a close up shot of the guitarist.

Our final set of sketches on our storyboard indicate different forms of action for our protagonist, including him running a race.

We have also included a close up of the band members' feet, as it is shows a dance that the band usually do to this particular song so it seems right to include it in our video, as it is a trait the band have that makes them unique.

Before we started filming we made a shooting schedule including what we were going to film and when, although it may change depending on whether we complete each part of filming on time, but it gives us a rough guide to follow to keep us on track when we film.

We made a list of everything that was needed e.g if the tripod was necessary or if it was just handheld camera, we also wrote which actors were needed, and how many and where we would be filming. We made this in plenty of time so that each member of our group would know where they were supposed to be at what point, and what they needed to bring, if anything.

Research into chosen band

Our chosen band is Splutter, a 5 member band of the punk/rock/ska music genre. Although currently unsigned, if Splutter were to appear on a particular band label they would be on the label called 'Fat Wreck Chords' created by a member of a well known band from the same music genre as Splutter; NOFX.
Fat Wreck Chords are a punk/rock label, and many other bands of this music genre hold many similarities to Splutter, for example the use of opinionated lyrics and sharp wit.

Some bands within this music genre are:

- Sum 41

- Less than Jake

- Pour Habit

- Linkin Park

The history of the punk rock music genre can be traced back to its beginnings in 1974, where punk rock bands originated with fast paced, hard edged music, often with short songs and strongly opinionated lyrics.

'Fat Wreck Chords' is known for not being part of the Recording Industry Association of America, putting into action their rebellious reputation for being different, and independent.

Splutter, take some of the elements from stereotypical punk rock music videos, as well as factors from other genres and make it their own, they stand out from the crowd which is a message we would want to portray, and why we think they would belong in this particular record label.

Specific Questionnaire

After our first questionnaire, which we used to get a rough idea of what people in our target age range look for in a music video, we decided to make a more specific questionnaire that relates particularly to our chosen genre, which we distributed only to those that listen to this music genre. By doing this we can get a clear idea of what our target audience do and don't like, and work on our music video through the results we get.

This is our more specific questionnaire:


Target Audience

Questionnaire:-

1) What do you look for in a punk/rock/ska music video?
2) What is your favorite punk/rock/ska music video and why?
3) What is your least liked punk/rock/ska music video and why?
4) What are your favorite films?
5) What are your favorite punk/rock/ska album covers?
6) Do you prefer fast paced or slow paced music?
7) What would you like to be included in a video for the song 'Myspace'?
8) Do you prefer a music video that tells a story or one with non-narrative action?
9) Do you prefer synchronized action to the music or unusual contrapuntal action? (E.g. slow romantic scenes to fast death metal!)
10) How old are you?
11) What is your gender?
12) Do you like the song? (if heard at a gig, if not don't answer)
13) How would you like a punk/rock/ska band to be advertised?
14) Where do you see most punk/rock/ska band advertisements? E.g. Kerrang
15) Do you like the lyrics?

Our Questionnaire

We put together a questionnaire, to get an idea of what people expect in a music video, particularly for our song and lyrics. We asked people their opinion on our lyrics, and what they would expect to see in a music video, and what they find most enjoyable and memorable in a music video.
Here is our questionnaire, once we have put together our results and can give an overall evaluation of our results I will put that up as well :


1) What type of music do you listen to?

2) What do you look for in a music video?

3) What is your favorite music video and why?

4) What is your least liked music video and why?

5) What re your favorite films?

6) What do you expect to see in a music video?

7) What are your favorite album covers?

8) Do you prefer faced pace or slow paced music?

9) What would you like to be included in a video for the song 'Fat'?

10) Do you prefer a music video that tells a story or one with non-narrative action?

11) Do you prefer synchronized action to the music or unusual contrapuntal action? (E.g. slow romantic scenes to fast death metal!)

12) How old are you?

13) What is your gender?

14) Do you like the song?

15) How would you like a band to be advertised?

16) Where do you see most band advertisements? E.g. Kerrang