Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Sunday, 11 October 2009
KASABIAN: Album analysis by Walat Kurdi
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Analysis Of La Roux Video for "In for the Kill" By Walat Kurdi
Monday, 5 October 2009
Hip Hop Genre Presentation by Walat Kurdi and Izu
Production Diary of Izu and Walat
Date of day
Description
Location
Actors (cast)
Decision made
15th July 09 - Came up with many ideas for a pop video to later make in the year, knew our genre was Pop so me and walat both went home, researched and watched pop videos to get a general idea as to what we were going to make and the basic things a lot of pop videos had in common.
18th July 09 - We both thought of venues to use the night before and came to school and wrote down a list of all kinds of general venues which we will narrow down later in the year and use. Here is the list:
- Walats' house
- Izus' House
- Bar China
- Mikes' Car
- Raynes Park Playing Fields
- Wimbledon Odeon
- Richmond Park
- Central London
- Drama Studios
- Chukadero - London
- Jakes' Car
- Harrys Car
- Danielles Car
- Hampton Court
- Kingston River
- Bar Malden
- Ashley's house
**********SUMMER HOLIDAY BREAK PERIOD!!! **********
28th Sep 09 - On this day we decided on our general idea for the plot and narrative behind the music video. We watched various music videos that were similar to our type of video. We decided to make some slight differences and put a bit of a twist to the typical storyline that most people would expect from music video like ours.
29th Sep 09 - we decided collectively on what locations were definitely available for shooting and those that either were unavailable or not particularly suitable. Some example like Bar China, Mike's Car and Walat's house were available and locations such as Danielle's Car and Richmond Park would not be used.
Locations that we will most definitely be using:
Walats area outside house, Walats front door, Ashleys car, Ashleys bedroom, Bar China, and Drama Hut (studio).
Also decisions on possible actors that were had already asked beforehand that could be featured in our music video. Band members and characters in the narrative would include acting from Aidan C, Kyle M, Harry Th, Olumide A, James B and others.
Also anticipating what props will be needed including guitars, drums, standing microphones, and more. There were also considerations about props that weren't necessarily needed but would make the video look a whole lot better.
Sep 30th 09 - The idea of this day was for us to watch as many music videos we could that were similar in style to our song, and find ideas that we could possibly use in our video. Not only does the genre of the music videos watched have to be the same but also the pace and feel of the songs must also be similar. Videos were watched on the Internet on YouTube and Yahoo music. Also some were watched on TV music channels such as MTV2, TMF, The Vault and more because these are the channels that would usually show Rock/Indie type music.
4th Oct 09 - This was a day in which much planning was achieved on what shots would be used in our filming. Many music videos were watched but the ones we found most effective and useful were ones from bands such as Razorlight, the Killers, The Feeling, Stereophonics, Kasabian, Pigeon Detectives, and Coldplay. All these bands have made videos in the past that are very suitable and fitting with our type of music video.
5th Oct 09 - Up until this point we had considered and planned many factors of the music video. However we hadn't really thought about editing and what techniques could be used in between the shots to help with the flow of the video. We watched some videos that were made by the previous A level students and considered some ideas that they had done editing wise. Also later this day when we watched more films on YouTube etc a very interesting and unique editing technique was spotted in a music video by The Fray.
6th Oct 09 - We went to various locations and took photos of areas that we could use in our filming. We also took pictures of actors that would be featured in the filming along with props such as guitars, drums, microphones etc.
7th Oct 09 - Same story as yesterday. The remaining photos of locations and actors were taken. Also more ideas for shots and editing techniques were considered and drawn onto paper as possible uses. Two ideas in particular came from a video from Kasabian and a video from Kings of Leon.
Actors:
Aidan (drummer), Kyle (lead vocal singer), Danielle (extra), Stephanie (extra), Izu (extra), James (guitar), Ashley (main character in narrative), Jess (girlfriend), Lester (second main character), Mike (extra)
11th Oct 09 - Decisions on what shots to use in the bar scene. Various shots were initially supposed to be in the scene however the area in which we can film is not large enough for some shots to be used. So this lead to thinking of some new ideas that we could feature in the bar scene. One idea was to include and use more people in the bar to make the scene look more realistic and believable.
Oct 12th 09 - We made an important decision on the filming in the bar scene. We thought of an idea that we would feature the band in the bar at the same time the story is being told. Also we decided to use only three members of the band in the bar instead of the whole four members because one of the members only plays the drums and nothing more so therefore is not needed in this scene.
14th Oct 09 - A change was made to the narrative and plot of the music video we would be making. We decided to change the chronological order of the scenes. Instead of the first scene being the bedroom and band space scene we changed it to a combination of the bar scene and band space scene. We also altered and improved the contents of the bar scene including featuring the girlfriend of one of the gay guys in the bar as well as originally in the bed room scene also.
16th Oct 09 - Another set of ideas came indirectly from watching music videos not necessarily in need of analysis but for simple enjoyment. By watching videos such as Cheryl Cole's and Robbie Williams' videos the technique of various continuous shots all of the artist in the same position but from many different angles. A decision was made to takes ideas from this to use in the making of our video.
20th Oct 09 - Up until this day we had had most of the planning of the video sorted out and were confident about what would be in our video. We had a total 4 -5 locations including a bar scene, bedroom scene, car scene and studio scene. However we were still unsure about how the video would end.
We finally worked out and decided how the music video would come to an end. We decided that it would end with an outcome and the question on every ones mind will be answered at the end. That question is will the guy with the girlfriend cheat with the guy he met in the bar??
22nd Oct 09 - Today we sorted out booking out the camera etc for half term so we could continue filming as we are still left to film the car scene and the bedroom scene, things which we will be perfecting over the half term break!
27th Oct 09 - Originally we had planned to film the last scene of the video, of which the main character comes to the end of his dilemma, at the front door of Izu's house. However various circumstances including time factor, availability of actors etc meant that we were unable to film at that location.
So instead we filmed at Walat's house as an alternative. It, in actuality, turned out to be a good decision because there were more props and surroundings around that area that we were filming that we used to our advantage.
30th Oct 09 - We decided to consider various different sound effects to use in our music video. We also decided to include a pause in sound where the music stop for a moment as an important moment of the narrative is active. This feature will most probably occur near the end of the video and then there will be a resume of the music as the video comes to its end.
2nd Nov 09 - At this we had already thought of every or most shots that would be utilised in the video. However during the 2nd and also during the 3rd November new types of shots were being thought of and very good shots were also seen in existing music videos that we couldn't afford not to put in our video.
5th and 6th Nov 09 - We considered altering and mixing the chronological order of the scenes in the video. we thought about putting the original first scene, which was the bar scene, after the next morning scene to signify the main characters' memory of what happened last night.
However after playing the new arrangement with the track it was obvious that the content in the scenes did not compliment and fit with the timing and lyrics. Therefore we then decided to change back to the original arrangement we had planned which made more sense when played over the music.
9, 10 and 11 Nov 09 - We had to make a decision on whether to film the last remaining scene in the drama studio at Coombe Girls' or the drama studio at Coombe Boys'. The drama room at the girls school was only available every day after school time however the boys school was free at various unknown times which made it difficult to find the right times to use. We decided to use the girls school drama room because it was more convenient and we found it easier to agree filming times with our actors.
These three days involved:
- booking out cameras and tripods
- booking out the drama studio
- calling our actors in for their part
- booking out props such as drum kit, 2 guitars, 2 standing microphones, sound system, DJ headphones etc.
12th Nov 09 - Today was the last session of filming that was left to take place. It started after school at 3:30 and finished at roughly 5:15. the filming as a whole went very well however some changes had to be made to improve the quality of shots.
We were not able to recreate The scene and exact shots that were originally drawn in the storyboards because of insufficient space in the room. So we rearranged the band members, props and scenery to fit in to the space provided and to create a more realistic and convincing video.
13th Nov 09 - after filming our last piece of video on thursday (the day before), today we uploaded that last scene we needed to complete our total number of shots. However after looking at the piece of filming we did, it was noticable that there were 2 or 3 shots that were missing that were needed towards the end of the music video.
So in which case we took the free time we had today to get those last few shots filmed and finished so we could get on with the all important editing process.
We decided to use the drama studio again along with only the main band member which was required for the close ups.
16th Nov 09 - Today during editing we noticed that a lot of our shots, especially the shots that were explaining the narrative, were quite long in duration. We realised that the song was too short and the shots were too long to fit into the whole song. Therefore there were two alternatives, which included:
- Either shortening or deleting some content in each shot
- increasing the speed of the shot which would reduce the time the shot would last for.
So in the end we decided to use a mixture both alternatives just to add more creativity.
17th Nov 09 - During editing today we found ourselves with a lot of shots to choose from. Some of these shots were supposed to be used in the same place as others. So this gave us the luxury of choosing the best shots out of a wide selection of shot choices instead of having to consider only one type of shot to use for each particular time.
18th Nov 09 - Today as we watched what we had completed so far and we had found some weaknesses. For example we noticed that there were way too many shots being used in a very short space of time. We asked some people in our class to watch what we had constructed so far and most people said that the amount of shots included made it confusing to understand at times.
This was therefore a feature we had to alter and improve in a way that the video doesn't completley bamboozle the person as they're watching it.
19th Nov 09 - After making clear editing progress, we showed what we had put together so far to our teacher. She pointed out that there was some confusion between which shots were from the same location because the shots were mixed and in fast continuity.
In which case we decided to use editing techniques such as wash in/out, fade in/out, dissolve and more to try to create more of a distinguishing feel between the two locations and scenes.
20th Nov 09 - Today was another day in the editing process. We realised that in some of the shots, the lead singer was not miming the words of the song at the same speed as the actual singing in the song. Therefore we reacted by adding a fast video effect to speed up the mouth movement of the lead singer so that it would match with the timing of the lyrics being sung.
22nd Nov 09 - We wanted to make a little change to a certain part at the end of the video as mentioned in the description for (30th Oct.) We decided that the momentary pause of the music would be when the character at the door (Ashley) rings the door bell. there will be an awkward wait of anticipation and worry at the door as he waits for the door to slide open. Then the music will resume when the two guys acknowledge each other.
23rd Nov 09 - Today we were editing the bedroom scene in which the naib chartacter (Ashley) is getting out of bed and getting ready to leave his house. We noticed that the lighting was quite dark which meant we had to make a decision whether to leave it or increase brightness and contrast. We chose to brighten up the clips.
24th Nov. 09 - Another problem was that it took too long for the main character to get ready and leave his house in these shots. Therefore we had to either increase the speed of the video or make the clips shorter which would have limited important content. We chose to use the increasing of the speed option.
The clips of Ashley in the car were hard to choose from because there were so many that we could have used but didn't have enough space to fit all in. Therefore we had to choose the best shots we had and leave out some equally good shots.
25th Nov 09 - Today we were editing the last part and scene of the video in which the Main character has reached his destination and is on his way to a house. We came across a problem that at the time of filming the actor (Ashley) was walking too slow. In addition there were too many shots to fit in a small space of time that remained in the song. So therefore we had to increase the speed of the walking and also find certain bits of the film that we didn't really need and could be cut out.
26th Nov 09 - Today we added some editing transitions and effects to the video to help the video flow more naturally and convincingly.We also needed to find a moment in the song where we could pause the song for the duration that he rings the door bell and waits for an answer. We eventually, after debating where the pause worked better, we chose a moment that we could pause the song for 10 - 15 seconds or so.
27th Nov 09 - Today we had the simpler task of adding the last touches to the music video. We already arranged the shots in the correct order and added the neccessary edits. All we needed now was some feedback.
30th Nov 09 - Today we got people from our class to watch what we had so far for our music video. We gained negative as well as positive feedback. We were told that some of the video wasn't in sink with the lyrics of the song. We therfore attended to this problem by deleting certain parts and re arranging other parts to make sure the change doesn't effect the rest of the video.
1st Dec 09 - We asked one of our teachers to watch what we had done so far for our music video. We gained valuable feedback that made us realise what we were doing wrong at this point. He told us that there were too many short sudden cut shots that were confusing and irrelevant to the meaning of the video. We therefore removed these shots from the video which automatically help the other shots flow more conveniently.
2nd Dec 09 - Today we found a problem which was that the door bell sound effect that we put in didn't ring at the same time that the guy in the scene presses the button. We couldn't move anything back or forward because it would effect the rest of the arrangement of the film.
Therefore we slowed the speed down of that scene where he presses the door bell which would make it last longer. This change did fix the problem, and also indirectly added an effect that reflected the feel of the video at that particular time.
3rd Dec 09 - Today We were just polishing up what we had already completed. Any little inperfections that we noticed, after watching the whole length of the video over and over again, were sorted out...
...The End
