Storyboard for Narrative

Storyboard for Performance shooting.

Poster Research.

DVD Cover Research.

cut to the beat

Email regarding guitar solo in the middle of song

After discussing what we could do we decided that we should email Wurz and ask him about the guitar solo. He said that the guitar solo is performed by Keith. I've done the storyboard but now I know this I think I should change a few of the shots focusing on Keith as he now has the guitar solo which we were going to focus in on him and the majority of the camera time needs to be on Ocky. 

Storyboard...

I've been working on the storyboard for the music video and have been through several drafts but have not yet completed the finalized version. This is an issue as the filming date is in 3 days but it's almost done so I'm spending time on it whenever I have the chance.
I realized that I didn't have a clue about the shot timings so Alex has worked these out and given them to me so we can work out how long each shot should go on for. There is also a guitar solo in the middle of the song but I'm not sure which guitarist from Group Therapy is going to do this and I think a close-up shot of this solo would be good but as I don't know who the close-up is going to be on I'm going to have to sort something out.

Emails me and Alex sent/recieved to and from Seven Summers

Get closer to them, given them more screen time, make them wear a hat! 

Hope helpful. 

On 12 Jan 2011, at 17:15, Alex Carrier <alex.carrier_cfc@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi Neil,

We were wondering if we could ask one more question. How do you make you lead vocalist stand out, or do you try not to?

Thank you :)
Alex and Fran

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Subject: Re: a level media
From: wilson_neil
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2011 15:49:05 +0000
To: alex.carrier_cfc@hotmail.com

Hey thanks, been a pleasure to help. Good luck with the project.
On 11 Jan 2011, at 13:53, Alex Carrier <alex.carrier_cfc@hotmail.com> wrote:

Thank you it's helped a lot :)

Thanks,
Alex and Fran

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From: wilson_neil
To: alex.carrier_cfc@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: a level media
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2011 13:48:39 +0000

They were set quite dark for realism, effect and also means the metal stuff shines nicely when you point a spot at it. Hope that helps.  

On 11 Jan 2011, at 11:56, Alex Carrier <alex.carrier_cfc@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi Neillo,

Thank you for your help. 

Also, the colours in your videos seem to be quite dark. Was this to portray a certain message and theme, or was in coincidence?

All your help is really appreciated.

Thank you :)
Alex and Fran

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From: sevensummers
Subject: Re: a level media
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2011 09:49:16 +0000
To:alex.carrier_cfc@hotmail.com

Hi Alex, hi Fran, 

This is all I can think of right now. Hope is useful.

It's a good idea to figure out the purpose of the video before you start. We wanted something people could watch on YT so they knew what to expect if they came to a show. As we weren't producing for TV we didn't have to worry about making it too elaborate or commercial ... it's just us, in a room, playing our songs, a bit like being invited into a rehearsal. We wanted to get the detail in and make it quite personal hence there are lots of very close up shots of parts being played and sung. 

We wanted the videos to join up and make sense with everything else visual we had. We already had our album artwork and logo (though not released), and wanted that feel and identity to come through on film. It is a very 'Seven Summers' production ... not over cooked, or processed too much.

Facts - 

Shot in 1 x 6 hour day at Musicbank

Band + Nic + Chris + 1 runner

1 camera - Panasonic HS9

2 lights

Edited in Final Cut Studio on MacBook Pro

Hope that helps ... good luck

Neillo

On 10 Jan 2011, at 14:23, Alex Carrier wrote:

hello,
We are currently studying media in year 13 and for the coursework we have to plan, produce and edit a music video for a band. 

The band we have been given is quite similar to yours and so we were wondering if you could give us any imformation on how you planned what would go in your misic videos and how they would look.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you :)
Alex and Fran

Camera shots and positions of U2 - Vertigo

The establishing shot to the music video 'Vertigo' is a very long slight aerial shot of the band standing in a big circle in the middle of nowhere. This then cuts to a medium close-up of the drummer hitting the symbols to establish the start of the song. It then does a series of quick cuts to show each band member individually. These shots are handheld to show motion and movement. The camera then focus' on lead singer Bono but several long, wide and close-up shots of other band members sleeves being blown and the black stuff that's coming through the circle and is attached to each member of the band is shown as well. The video also has several pans to go around everybody and follows the same themes the whole way through.
I think this video is the best one I've watched and analysed so far for screen time as Bono gets the majority as the lead singer but shots of everybody else are shown equally and there are many shots establishing the band as a whole. I like the way the shots are handheld and wobble and cut quickly to show the mood of the song. i think it's a brilliant music video given the simplicity.

Camera shots and positions of Manic Street Preachers - So why so sad

The establishing shot of the video is a mid-shot of a boy on the beach ready to swing a baseball bat. Then a shot of the hand of a man as he throws the ball. As a long shot of the ball being thrown at the boy is thrown the music starts to play. The camera then cuts to a long shot of the band playing in a massive living room of a house. The camera pans slightly from one side of the room to the other and then cuts to a medium close-up of the lead vocalist James Dean Bradfield. Then to a medium close-up of the guitarist for slightly less time and then a cut and zoom in to the drummer. The camera then goes back to a mid shot of the lead singer and then to a long of the whole band again. At 30 seconds the camera cuts back to the narrative on the beach but this time shows two little girls as they make their way to the sea. The camera then cuts back to the large living room and the lead singer standing near a couch away from the rest of the band playing a guitar. A shot is then shown of the guitarist standing by a window with with the sea view from it and a piano not being played to the back of the shot. The camera then focus' back on the smallest girl as she laughs and looks happy running away from the sea. The camera then quickly shows Bradfield again and then cuts to a shot of a lady picking up a small boy, they're both smiling and so close-up shots are shown to establish their happiness. There's then a shot of James looking out of the window, possibly down at the people on the beach at the people. There is then an establishing long shot of a little hut on top of a hill which is where the Manic street preachers are situated inside. The camera pans slightly and then cuts back inside to a long shot to show the guitarist and lead singer facing away from each other performing. Then the camera goes back to the narration where the lady and the two girls are holding hands walking in to the sea. The camera then cuts to a shot of a blonde lady sunbathing but she looks like she's watching the family walking into the sea and she's smiling. The mood of the video changes as a long shot through smoke is showing a soldier standing still with a gun. After going back to a shot of the lead singer the camera goes back to a shot of the soldier emerging from the smoke and he has a concerned look on his face in this mid-shot which pans into almost a close-up. A wide shot is then shown of the blonde lady sunbathing but a big explosive bit of smoke and several soldiers run out from it and across the beach as parts of the sand blows up as the camera tracks around them. The camera shows the occupiers of the beach going about what they were doing as though the soldiers weren't even there even though they're running right through each shot. Throughout these parts of narration the camera keeps going back to a medium close-up of James Dean singing inside the hut. at 2:05 the drummer is shown again for the second time. As the soldiers make there way down the beach there is a variety of shots on them but the odd cut to the mid-shot of the lead singer not to lose effect of the band. At the end of the video we see the beginning shot again exactly the same only this time the man threw a bomb at the boys bat instead of a baseball. 
I think the variety of shots used in this video is good as there is a big range. I also think they gave the lead singer a lot of screen time especially compared to the drummer but it worked as we still knew that it was a band and not just James Dean Bradfield on his own. The majority of the video was the narration which I think was unclear when the soldiers appeared but the camera shots and movements were pretty good. 

Camera shots and positions of Status Quo - Whatever you want

The establishing shot for the music video for 'Whatever you want' is of the guitarist and a strange cubed effect that goes round as he plays the guitar. This then turns into a shot of the band on stage where the audience will be mainly focused on the guitar player that was in the establishing shot wish is not the lead singer. at 41 seconds there is a shot of 16 stills exactly the same which in turn turn in to real shots of each of the band members. As the singing begins it is the man in the establishing shot 'Rick Parfitt' and not the lead singer who is singing. This is a mid-shot focused on just him which leads the audience to believe that Rick Parfitt is the lead singer of Status Quo when in fact the lead singer is Francis Rossi. At 1:21 the camera cuts to a mid-shot of Rossi but as this is the same shot as what is focused on Parfitt we can't tell that Rossi is supposed to be the lead vocalist. The camera then goes to a side wide shot of the band with Rick Parfitt the centered attention again which brings more confusion as to the roles within the band. At 1:27 the video cuts to a medium close-up of the drummer of the band who doesn't look too enthusiastic about the performance. Then a shot of the whole band is shown again but with Rick Parfitt as the closest target. In front of the drums we are then shown a wide shot of the drummer, the lead singer playing guitar and another guitarist basically standing in a line. As Francis Rossi walks across the stage the camera pans after him but then cuts to a shot of Rick Parfitt singing again even though in the background of the shot we can see Rossi also singing. The camera then cuts to a shot of the keyboard player also singing. Then the shot is back to the whole band. Both Rick Parfitt and the lead singer Francis Rossi have microphones but the guitarist on the other side of the stage doesn't. We're then shown a mid-shot of the lead singer for 4 seconds before the camera cuts to a closeup of Parfitt strumming the guitar which then cranes up to show a closeup of Rick singing. As the guitar solo kicks in Parfitt and the other guitarist step back as Rossi has the front of stage. Throughout the rest of the video the shots are pretty much the same as the rest of it. Camera time is probably evenly spread out between Rossi and Parfitt with slightly less to the rest of the band. Parfitt may even have slightly more time than Rossi which gives confusing to the audience about who the lead singer is as it's Francis Rossi not Rick Parfitt. I think they needed to establish this more but I chose to analyse the shots and positions of this video as it is from the 1970's and I thought it best to look at videos from now and back several years ago as Group Therapy seem to target the same kind of people who would listen to bands such as Status Quo.  

Camera shots and positions of Maroon 5 - She will be loved

The establishing shot of this music video is a mid-shot of the back of the lead singer, Adam Levine. As he turns his head there is several quick shots to his experiences with a particular female, as the camera focuses back on him he slowly jumps into the pool in front of him. There are then several extreme close-up shots that portray emotion mixed with long shots of Levine in the pool. We're then shown him and the woman inside the pool together and then a cut to him laying on a sun bed singing the lyrics. From there we can see that he is the singer and it has not yet been established that it's a band so he seems like a solo artist. Through the narration there is a lot of closeup shots of him laying on the sun bed with the woman laying on his chest as he sings. At 1:47 in the song there is a hit to the drums and we see a mid-shot of the drummer doing so. The shot only lasts less than a second before it heads back to the narration but now part of the narration does have the band in it as we are shown Adam Levine singing the song up on a stage with his band. There is a closeup of him with the guitarist in the background and then a wide shot of a man sitting down playing the guitar. At 1:55 we are shown a head on long shot of the band. We can see the lead singer in the front with two men on guitars just behind him and to the side. The camera then cuts to a wide shot of one of the guitarists and then back to a close-up of Levine's face. The camera is now showing a lot of shots of each member of the band but mainly Levine. We've now been properly shown that this is in fact a band rather than a solo singer. The camera continues to show mid-shots of each member of the band but close-ups are only on Adam. This shows he's more important than the rest of the band. At 3:08 the video goes back to the narration in the first half of the video and away from the band and then back to pans around the room the band are playing in at 3:17. This room is filled with an audience watching them which is connoting that this is a small gig and the band aren't well known. The video then switches back to the narration again with the lead singer for the remainder of the video. It ends on the close-up shots that it began with. 
I think this video, gives to much camera time to Adam Levine if they're trying to establish themselves as the band Maroon 5 instead of 'Adam Levine with random people on instruments'.  

Camera shots and positions of Honor Society - Over you

The first shot of this music video is of Michael Bruno (the lead singer), this quickly cuts to a shot of him inside a train playing a guitar with the rest of the band in the background. This means 3 seconds into the video the audience can have established that this is a band not a solo musician. There is then a cut to a wide shot of an officer and a few train passengers standing next to the train but the main focus is on the lady in the background which is established by the red coat she is wearing, there is then a cut to a medium closeup of her as she makes her way past the other people. After this there is another quick cut of a face on wide shot of the band but this only stays for a second as it then cuts back to the lady in red and then again, to the drummer and then back to the lady. This shot is a medium close-up and then cuts to a mid-shot of Michael Bruno and then back to the lady establishing a connection between the two. The next shot is of the waste down of the guitarist of the band. The quickness of the edits and the speed at which the slight narration is happening suggest that the lead singers' character is trying to reach the lady. There is then another shot looking down on the drummer which quickly cuts to the band as a whole again. As the shot pans we can properly establish that the band are on the train that the narrative is happening on. Again there is another close-up of the drummer. This may be because as he is at the back of the band, it is hard to see him with the other members in front of him in a shot of the whole band. At 19 seconds the lyrics begin and we are shown a medium close-up of Michael Bruno (as the singer) but the rest of the band are still visible in the background of the shot. Although most of the shots are focusing on the lead singer, most of them show the band in the background so it isn't symboling that Bruno has a greater importance. For the first time at 41 seconds there is then a medium close-up on the guitarist on the left followed by the blonde guitarist. There is then a series of medium close-ups on each band member still with the cutting to the narration. The medium close-up is probably the chosen shot to show the instrument being played as well as the member himself. At 1:03 there is almost an extreme close-up on Michael Bruno's face. This is followed by several pans around the band and the cutting to the narration which now includes the rest of the band sitting in seats giving the lead a funny look. At 1:55 there is a medium close-up of the drummer spinning the drum sticks around and then at 2:05 the guitarist in shades comes forward to the position right next to the lead singer, this establishes the respect the band have for each other. Although there is a narration going on in the video there seems to be a lot of shots of the band and not just of the lead singer, camera time seems to be more or less even between the members as the rest are in the background of shots of Bruno. The last bit of narration is the lead singer watching as the train pulls away and then there is a cut to a shot of the whole band stopping in sync as the video ends. My opinions on this video were that the camera time was evenly distributed which is good because it wouldn't cause arguments within the band for example; the band thinking that Michael Bruno was the only important thing. In our music video we are going to give the most camera time to 'Ocky', the lead singer but the rest of the band should still be given a fair amount.

Timing of shooting

Alex found out from 'The Harmonettes' that they have been told they will be available to start shooting at 2:30pm on January 23rd. We were expecting to have until 12:00 or 1:00pm at the latest and so this is good news for us especially as Megan is unable to make the shoot so we have one less able pair of hands to work with. We still need to find out what time we're starting as this will need to be stated clearly to all cast and crew members in the production log.
As we booked out four cameras and are using one of them for behind the scenes we have three cameras meaning we can shoot 3 different shots through one taking of the video. This is an advantage as we should be able to get a good variety of shots to choose from when Heidi edits later on and we will also be able to get these done quicker than having a single camera and facing either getting less shots done or taking longer. We want to ensure we're done in time so that the other group have enough time to shoot there's as if we run over it's unfair on them. In order to do this Alex (producer) should clearly state in the Production Log being made the exact times we need and should take for each task.

a Director's role.

To find out exactly what I should be doing within the group I searched the role of a director and found the following;
I couldn't find anything specifically about directing a music video so I assume that a director's roles can be applied to different areas such as film and music video.
The main part stars that a director is somebody who directs the actors and crew in the making of a film. So in the music video that would mean directing the band where to stand and the crew where to be located and what to do throughout the making.
"They also should know what the audience should gain from the cinematic experience". From that I guess that I should decide how the audience should be feeling after/throughout watching the music video and make sure that the way things are set out will do this well. Directors are also responsible for deciding camera angles, lens, effects, lighting and set design although I'm not doing set design as that's Megan’s job as the designer. To start this underway I will be looking at music videos on YouTube to see how other music video directors used effects and camera angles and shots. I've been attempting this for around a week now but YouTube won't load at the current time at my house and is blocked on the school server.

Current Position

We wanted to shoot the music video in Peppercorns Theatre in St Neots. The appearance of this would have been more professional and attractive than our new location of Sawtry College school hall. The School Hall is very dull and I believe that this is going to be a hard job for Megan (designer) to make look interesting as I don't think there is much we could do to improve it. The positive thing about having the school hall as our location is that we're all very familiar with the size and layout so we know what we can and can't do within it. The storyboard should be easier for me to do now as the school hall is available to observe any time between 8:30am and 5:00pm Monday - Friday when there is no P.e going on. This means I can work out where the band should stand and where the cameras should be located on each take. As I'm not much of a drawer I shall plan out the shots and positions and draw them out as best I can but I will then be working with Heidi(technical person) and discuss my ideas as she will be using the camera and will be a great help with the storyboard. We also have a slight issue as Monday - Friday is when people are at school and so it's open but our shooting date is January 23rd which is a Sunday. Already we've faced the issues of Heidi and Alex having to take days off of work and also Megan can't make the shoot on that day as well as having to share the day of shooting with the Harmonettes and their group. We don't even know currently whether the college will be able to open for us on the Sunday and if it doesn't we are then left without a location.

Official Music Video (Come up and see me) - Steve Harley and the Cockey Rebels shots and edits.

As the Director I looked at the music video for the original version of 'come up and see me (make me smile)' by Steve Harley and the Cockney Rebels. I thought I would list every shot used to get an idea of the kind of shots we could use in our music video.
The first shot we see is a close up (it is blurred to start with and becomes clearer) of some sort of bracelet on his wrist. The hand this is shown on is the one he's strumming the chords of the guitar with. The shot zooms out so we can see part of his arm and most of the guitar.
There is then a right to left transition effect of a triangle that wipes into the next shot, a simple medium close-up of the lead singer standing behind a microphone; this carries on for 8 seconds. The transition is then the same (the triangle type swipe) that goes from right to left across the screen. There is then a wide shot from the side of the band with the drum set in the right of the shot. In my opinion this shot is not very good as only one of the Cockney Rebels is visible as well as some of Steve Harley in the background. They keyboard or drum kit to the right are not being played so there seems to be no significance of having them in the shot.
From this shot the camera zooms into the band, still from the side. It carries on zooming onto Steve Harley who looks at the camera as it is doing so. The shot ends on another close up of the lead singer. The transition again is the triangle swipe thing so this is probably a recurrent transition throughout the music video although it doesn't seem appropriate or very professional. The next shot is a lot like the last, a wide shot of the whole band from the side but this time further to the right. We're now introduced to a man behind the keyboard that we couldn't see in the previous shot. The shot pans back to the left slightly and then zooms and pans back round to the front of the band this time carrying on and as it does this we can now see a man behind the drums. The camera then comes to a halt and zooms in to Steve Harley once again. The next shot has no transition but is a quick cut to the band from the left. The shot is still and the main focus of it is a man on guitar although Steve Harley is still visible in shot. This shot is held for seven seconds. It's the first time in the video anybody except the lead singer has had any screen time over a second at all really. Then a close-up of Harley is given again except it's a bit closer this time. The next shot is from behind the band as though someone backstage was filming. I think the lighting throughout so far especially in this shot is terrible as it is a bit too dark to be able to see properly. The camera zooms into a mid close-up of Steve Harley from the back and then transitions back to the guitar player who had the seven seconds of screen time earlier on. The camera pans around him and makes its way back into another close-up of Steve Harley. It then quickly cuts to a wide shot with the microphone in the middle of the screen, the drums in the background, Steve on the right and the man who got the seven seconds (in a flat cap) on the left. The camera zooms into the guitar the man in the flat cap is playing and we can then see the bracelet on his wrist that was the establishing shot of the music video. The shot then fades to a mid close-up of the keyboard with the player’s hands slightly visible. It carries on showing him in a clearly visible mid-shot of him sitting behind the keyboard with the drummer in the background. This then fades back to the shot of the mid close-up of the man’s wrist as he plays the guitar. The next shot is then a fade to the keyboard being played from the side and then again back to the guitar being played. Again the transition is a fade and the man playing the other guitar is shown playing from the side in a medium close up. Then again the shot is back to the man with the bracelets arm and wrist as he plays the guitar. The shot zooms into his fingers where he has a ring like the bracelet he's wearing, this then goes blurry and fades in to a wide shot of Steve Harley with the drummer in the background. It zooms in to a close-up of Harley; the shot is shown for around 17 seconds!!! There is then a quick cut to a close-up of the man on the right of the bands guitar and this zooms out to show the man singing as well. It pans round the side so we can also see the lead singer in the background of the shot. The next shot then quickly cuts to the other side of the band where the man in the flat cap is and a mid shot of him in the middle of the screen is shown. There is a pan around him for 4 seconds before Steve Harley is visible again. The camera continues to pan and then starts to zoom but right past Harley and into a close-up on one of the lights which fades into a different close-up shot of the lead singer. After 14 seconds of a close-up on Steve Harley the camera begins to zoom out to a long shot of the whole band from the front. This is the first time the band has been established in the video together and it's the last shot in the video.
In my own opinion I didn't like how the video was done at all. I felt the band should have been established early on instead of at the end. The lead singer, Steve Harley was given too much screen time. Although he is the lead the Cockney Rebels had barely any screen time to themselves and most of it was a close-up of their instruments. The colours were very dark and bland and dull. That may have been just the colours people wore the time the video was set but they aren't nice to look at and the video was slightly boring.