Evaluation

Digi pack inside cover final

Digi pack front cover final

Digi pack back cover final

Digi pack Inside cover

Magazine article final

Final Product.

rough cut magazine article

rough cut Album Cover

Album comparison research

Jason Mraz has a very similar style of music to Ed Sheeran. Jason’s album name “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things” is very close to almost being the same as Ed Sheeran’s album just because of the name of the songs and what the album is about. Jason Mraz’s songs are....

 












These songs are either love songs or about the world collapsing. Jason Mraz is known mainly for his love songs, his most famous song was 'Im Yours' which became a world wide known song being nominated as the best song of the year at the Grammy’s Awards Ceremony. 

'+' (pronounced Plus) is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, released through Atlantic Records on 9 September 2011. The album marks Sheeran's commercial breakthrough, having previously released five EPs independently.+ debuted atop of the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales. 

Ed Sheeran’s music is similar to Jason Mraz’s music, Both have similar style and their lyrics/songs are about either about Love, Loss, Problems or the world collapsing. Also both album covers involve a picture of the artist’s face, Jason Mraz’s is a picture of himself, self drawn, very sketchy, almost as if he’s showing that he’s a fun guy and doesn’t care about his self image. Ed Sheeran’s is similar, his album cover is orange relating to the colour of his hair (Ginger) showing also that he doesn’t care about his self image, his picture is of himself which is pixilated but you can tell its ed sheeran, showing the outline of his face and his facial features. 

Editing and software techniques used.

We used a wide range of editing technique on the software, Final Cut pro, which we have been familiar with from our AS production. With this familiarity, we have been able to develop the skills used on this software, allowing us to enhance our product for a more successful and professional finish in our product.


One of the first steps we took when beginning the editing of our footage, is we uploaded the song we chose, 'U.N.I', to the software in order for us to synchronise our footage to the song. The steps we took to do this was: File, Import, and then selected the song's file we had saved under Itunes, which then imported into the editing software.

Once the song had been uploaded,  we then uploaded the footage we had recorded from the camera onto Final Cut. The way this is done, is via the USB lead, which then registers and automatically sets up to Final cut. The 'log and transfer' option must be selected in order to upload the footage onto the software, this is found under the 'File' drop-down option. The log and transfer screen then arrises, and we then followed the steps in order to upload our footage and then ultimately edit the footage.

Once our footage had been uploaded, we were then
able to edit the footage to synchronise in with the song that was already uploaded. Once we began to view our un-edited footage, we could then begin the slow process of sorting out which footage we wanted to keep, and which was rejected. The successfully shot footage was then viewed, to the point where we could chose exact moments to cut in and cut out of the footage to enter into our final production.


Because our already shot footage already had audio set on it, we had to remove the audio in order for the quality of the music to be the best it possibly could be. The way we done this, was locking the column where the visuals were on the editing software, leaving the audio section free to be deleted, so we simply scrolled down selected the audio section and removed it. Once it was removed, it gave the illusion to the viewers that the footage we had filmed was linked to the audio from the music, which of course it wasn't, it had only been synced in.


This was repeated until we began to find a good stream in the production, a mixture of both performance and narrative, which is what our genre consisted of typically. Eventually the sequence viewer, acting like a timeline on the editing software, shows us how far along we are with the production and also eventually builds up, filled with transitions, footage and audio. The way we added in a transition into our production is through the effects drop-down toolbar, allowing us to choose from a range of choices, allowing our final product to look more professional and appealing.

We used various different transitions in many different areas in the film, either to show passing of time, a change of thought, a flashback or a change in tone. As you can see from the list above, there are many different effects that a transition portrays, leaving the finished product to suspend the audience's disbelief and also appeal more to them.

Another editing technique we used was differing the motion of the footage, for example, during the editing process of the product, an editor can slow down or speed up the footage and then add it into their sequence for the final product. One of our scenes, shows Max (protagonist), sitting on top of a vehicle while playing the guitar and singing, in this particular scene the camera remains stationary, while the vehicle drives further down the road, into the distance. We wanted to exaggerate the emotion in the parting of the two partners, we done this by slowing down the motion of the protagonist going further down the road. This can be done by selecting the 'motion' toolbar, in the viewing screen, and then scrolling down the 'speed %' section and then changing the numbers to your required pace. We selected our pace through trial and error, which is often the best way.

Finally to synchronise all footage, transitions and audio together, the software requires the user to 'render' the sequence to make the footage viewable. The way this is done is by going to the 'sequence' toolbar, scrolling down to render all and then selecting both at the top. This takes a few minutes, depending on the amount of footage and audio you have.

The footage can finally be saved from a final cut file, into a 'quicktime movie' which is done through the 'quicktime movie conversion' process, which takes about 5 minutes. The way this is done is by saving it under different settings, to allow the video to be shown in a much finer quality and by doing this too, it is also available to be broadcasted on the internet through this method if it is uploaded to internet software such as Youtube. The final product, once converted is available to watch in the following format.


By having it in this format, it is more widely available to a larger target market, and it can be dispersed easily via email or memory stick or can ultimately be uploaded to a website.

Rough cut feedback.

The following comments are what we received from peers that have seen our rough cut, they contain positives and constructive feedback.

Positive:

• The lyrics link well with the video
• Good lip syncing in the performance
• There is an even balance between the performance and the narrative side of the video.
• Realistic narrative
• Original idea
• Good narrative and performance
• Good mise en scene.

Constructive feedback:

• The shots are too long
• The artist looks too happy when they are singing, considering they have just broken up.
• Need a wider variation of shots
• Very slow paced, more cuts are needed between shots.

We believe that the feedback we received was extremely helpful, research is key to any production, but it is more useful when the feedback is delivered through your target audience. By having our feedback delivered by our target audience, we can alter our production to satisfy the consumers, thus creating a more successful and pleasing text. 

Rough Cut.

Permission from the artist

9 Shot Analysis

Lego House - Ed Sheeran.

This is the establishing shot in 'Lego House', the image connotes to the audience how popular Sheeran is with his fans. This is a positive representation towards the artist, which promotes his image, and may also be archive footage, which would be factual footage from one of the artists performances. This is significant to us as we believe this shows the popularity of Ed Sheeran with his audience, so we must keep our production in the same style to reach a similar target audience. 

  

This is a wide shot and by doing this, the producers and directors are able to show that it is a gloomy setting, which fits in with the lyrics and the mood of the music. This is an example of pathetic fallacy, a technique in which the weather reflects the mood of the text, this is an interesting technique which is widely used in the singer/songwriter genre, we hope to use this technique to show the change of tone when the text reaches its climax, where the couple break up. Not only does it do this, but it also exaggerates the protagonist's outline, showing the audience this isn't Ed Sheeran, which is significant to this particular production. 

As you can clearly see, the person in the shot isn't actually Ed Sheeran, it is Rupert Grint. They both share the same hair colour and have clearly been recognised for this, Sheeran's producers exploit the colour of his hair as a publicity stunt. In theory we may be able to replicate this technique in our production, as the protagonist, Max, has brightly dyed hair which could be used to promote our production in the same way as Sheeran's. By being able to exploit this, the directors of 'Lego House' have had to make sure Grint lip syncs to the music Sheeran is singing, outlining and exaggerating the fact that this isn't Ed Sheeran.

This shot is a unique shot, the mise en scene show Grint surrounded by artificial light  and radiators. The lyrics during this shot are "and its dark in a cold december, but I got you to keep me warm" The visuals show Grint surrounded by artificial light and radiators and would suggest the lyrics match the visuals, which is an interesting technique, we hope to use this in our production. 

The above shot shows that the protagonist is writing the lyrics down on paper. This stands out to the audience of the music video, as this isn't a regular occurrence in music videos, this is also significant as it shows how the lyrics relate to the artist. The camera is positioned in the over the shoulder shot position, which is an interesting technique to use as it gives the audience a minor sense of the artist's point of view, which makes them feel more involved into the production. We do hope to use this technique in our media text. 

This shot shows that Grint has an obsession with Sheeran as he is beginning to style himself in the same was as Sheeran does. Shown through the mise en scene, not necessarily the hair, but looking at Grint's wrists, these are clearly wristbands of some sort, which is a typical costume/fashion in the Indie or Singer/Songwriter genre. This is also significant as Grint looks similar to Sheeran, with the same colour hair, so there is a clear similarity between the two. Again the director is exploiting the colour of the hair. We hope to use the technique of similar mise en scene, in terms of costume in our production.

In this shot, the visuals matches the lyrics. The lyrics are, "If things go right, we can frame it and put you on a wall." Again this shows the audience the emotions that the artist was feeling when he wrote this. This is an important technique, as the audience will feel more involved towards the artist, which may increase his popularity with his fans, not only this but this type of technique is a lot more widespread in the singer/songwriter genre, as the audience feels the lyrics/music is more sincere, instead of a mass produced, 'made-for-money' music video.                   

Again this shot's visuals matches the lyrics. Not only does it match the lyrics but the character is holding a lego house which is the title of this music video. Which is important to the audience as they will gain a minor sense of cultural capital, only as the name of the song is 'Lego House' and the character is holding a lego house. In this shot the surrounding mise en scene isn't particularly important, however it is very relaxed. The body language of the character shows a small sense of obsession and maybe depression, which is what the song is about, so it is reflected through the characters portrayal.

                                 

 

This is one of the final shots in the music video, this is significant as it shows the audience that the character in this music video who is being portrayed as Ed Sheeran, meeting his obsessed icon, who is actually Ed Sheeran and this is the moment the audience realises what is actually going on. Again this is another over the shoulder shot, which is interesting, but the editing in this scene is slowed down, as the video is portrayed through Grint's point of view, so we gain a sense of elation or being 'star struck'. Many different editing techniques are used in this production, but this has to be the most significant as it really portrays and exaggerates the characters emotions. We hope to use similar techniques, but perhaps through transitions. 

Updated risk assessment

Costume, props and casting

PROPS
We used a car as the main prop in our text, the way we used this prop was Max, who played the protagonist, sat on top of the vehicle while playing the guitar and lip syncing to the real product. The reason for doing this was because we felt it was an unusual technique, also Ed Sheeran in some of his unofficial acoustic music videos, he plays the guitar on a canal boat as it goes down the canal. As you can see in the photo, Lorcan was controlling the vehicle as it was moving, to prevent a crash or any potential threat to max or any surrounding people.
A second prop we used was a guitar, the reason for this is simply because the song we chose for our media product, 'U.N.I' required us to use a guitar to make our product seem more professional and realistic. The problem we found with this though was none of us could play the guitar so we had to play it randomly and hope for the best when we came to editing.

PROPS/LOCATION
nathan was the camera man he had a difficult task filming this scene because he had to keep up with the car but at the same time keeping the camera steady so we gave nathan this duty as he had the most experience with filming. Our Location as you can see from the picture is on a private road, and because we filmed during the week and during the day, this meant that the majority of the people who live on the road were at work, there were virtually no cars driving on this road, which made this the perfect time for us to film.





CASTING/COSTUME
Max plays as the main character as well as the artist/performer. Max had a difficult task as he had to perform whilst sitting on top of the guitar singing and playing the guitar whilst the car was moving. Although this task was difficult, max pulled it off well.
From our research of Ed Sheeran, his clothing is not anything in particular except it being casual wear. such as jeans, t-shirt, trainers and a hoody of some sort aswell as a few accessories around the wrists. So we dressed max up in his casual clothing to match Ed Sheeran, as you can see from the picture we have Max in his casual clothing which is similar to what Ed Sheeran himself would wear. Also Ed Sheeran is known to have a bit of facial hair, luckily for us, Max is able to grow facial hair as well, you can see this in the picture.



When we first started the filming, the idea was for Lorcan to drive the car whilst Max was performing, but unfortunately Lorcan was not able to drive the car as it was proving difficult at the time. We then decided for Lorcan to tie the cable to the front of the car and pull the car for it to move, which did have some ups and downs, for starters no one was steering so it would keep hitting the curb. We then decided for Lorcan to sit in the car and for Nathan to push the car down the hill to get the car to roll and for Lorcan then be able to steer the car as well as being able to brake when needing to stop the car.

Weather forecast

Above is our original selected filming day, however as we need a dry day in order to film in the field, we may have to change our filming day at the last minute. This cannot be helped, this is completely out of our control. Therefore we have had to look on other surrounding days for a more drier day. 

As you can see above, the weather forecast is expected to be dry throughout the day so therefore we have had to change our first filming day to wednesday as it is expected to be dry throughout the day. Although this isn't guaranteed, we have to take these expected chances of dry days in order to gain a better quality of film. 

Presentation feedback.

What scenes will we film in the Windsor Great park?
> Holding hands and filming typical scenes in a relationship.
What are we going to do to not make the relationship over cliched?
> Keep the homosexual relationship a mystery until the end. Teasing the audience about who the relationship is between until the end when the mystery partner is shown. (Flashback) Or alternatively, the relationship will be kept as relaxed as possible, both actors are comfortable to do this, they will be also under direction to stop the relationship looking over cliched.

Film typical shots of a relationship, showing what two people who are in a relationships would typically do, by doing this we wont make it too cringey for the audience and it will be done tastefully - Challenge the audiences perception of homosexuality.

Why choose Illingworth?
>This particular road is quiet, enabling us to shoot plenty of shots without being disturbed. Also it is close to the other two locations. By doing this we will achieve a better continuity in the editing section of production.
How will you show that the couple has already broken up?
> Matt, the partner who is going to UNI, will drive away. Also the lyrics will show this. Or we will do something similar to this to make the audience easily aware that the relationship is coming to and end.
Costume?
> Usual teenage/indie costume, for example Jeans and tshirts etc. In the scene following or during the break up, Max will be wearing rugged clothes to show depression/sadness.


Our presentation was perceived as different in terms of the homosexual relationship. It may be fairly difficult to make the relationship look legitimate, it has to be acted well. We could perhaps rehearse these scenes before shooting. The directing too has to be fully aware of the acting, to make the relationship look legitimate.

The audience needs to share the same pain as Max will feel in the video (empathy), again this has to be both acted and directed professionally to show this pain. We believe that if we leave the break up until the end, the audience will gain a small sense of attachment to Max or the relationship, so they will feel empathetic towards Max.

Are we trying to be similar to our chosen artist?
> Ed Sheeran doesn't care so much about his image, he cares more about the music he creates. If we agreed with this statement, which we do, we will base our costume & filming on this statement. After all our production and Sheeran's production share the same target audience, therefore elements must remain similar.

Is there a risk in filming on Illingworth?
> This particular road is private, so we shouldn't have a problem with permission or too many disturbances. We will also time our filming around the rush hour of traffic on all roads, so we should gain better filming quality.

We could potentially add more locations to the flashbacks for instance maybe a movie night. We could show the couple when they were together and then slowly edit out the ex-partner. If we done this, we would have to be cautious when filming the room where they were viewing the movie they due to copyright issues.

We should take numerous shots of each scene and shot to gain a better perspective when it comes to editing.

Finally we should check the weather forecast, because we are filming outside and especially because we are filming in a field.

Presentation

Wbs group 4 a2 ppt music video from windsoradvancedportolio12

Location research

Above is an image of the location we will be using to shoot one of our scene. This particular location will be used in the scene to show the protagonist reminiscing the times he had spent with his partner. The reason for using this particular location is because it is a typical scene in which a young couple would go together, which allows our product to relate to our target audience. Also this area relatively quiet, which would give us better continuity when we come to the editing stage, so a we decided this location would be best for this.

 This is the location, birds eye view, of the area we will be using to shoot the performance based section of our product, in this scene the protagonist will be playing his guitar. The reason for using this particular location, is because the area is a built up housed estate, which isn't typical in many music videos, but our genre is singer/songwriter, and we deduced that the footage in this genre isn't shot in typical locations, so we are trying to relate to the target audience by doing so. Also it is a relatively quiet location so we shouldn't be as disturbed as frequently, so we will get a better quality of footage and again the issue of continuity. 

This is the location we will be using to shoot one of our final scenes, this particular location is the home of one of the members in out group, so therefore we will not need an official permission to film here, this will also give us a better quality of footage as we shouldn't be disturbed, improving the continuity of our product. At this location, the scene will be where the two partners go their separate ways, but we felt this was an appropriate location as it felt more welcoming and a more typical setting for a young couple to relax together. 

This is wide shot of Illingworth, (instead of having the birds-eye view of the road). The reason for us using this particular location, is as you can see from the above photo this is a relatively quiet area, there are also no houses around for  small distance down the road, giving us better opportunity to gain a better quality of footage by not being disturbed as we would be on a busy road. 

We aren't completely sure at this moment in time whether or not we will need more scenes to add into our production, however we have discussed this possibility and some of the locations in this discussion consist of:

Legoland 

Long walk (Copper Horse)

The Windsor Castle

London - by the Thames

On a coastline.

The reason for choosing these particular locations is because they are more well known to the public and ultimately our target audience. By adding these scenes in we may appeal to the audience, through rewarding their cultural capital. 

Permission to film.

To whom it concerns,

I give permission for Max and his media group to film at our home at anytime they require within reason.

Yours sincerely,

Helen Perkins.

Shooting schedule

Shot list

Calendar

Script

Story Boards