Digipak Research

Digipak Fickle Friends Research -

For our digipak intial ideas we wanted to take influence from exsisting media artefacts that come from our chosen genre (alternative/indie) as well as looking and drawing on previous album covers for our chosen band. To do this we needed to look into real media artefacts to make sure our ancillary tasks would be coherient of our genre, narrative style music video and be appealing to our target audience. 

Fickle Friends Album Covers:

Fickle Friends have a variety of different album covers already exsisting however they do have a common thred of themes that we can draw influence from and apply to our ideas. Colour is a main aspect of their digipaks, this reflects their upbeat sound which is portrayed in bright colours. Addationally, the use of floral patters and images is used as a backdrop or a main focus on some of their album covers also. The led signer Natassja Shiner seems to be featured on most of their digipaks emphasizing her to be the main and most known member of the band. 

General Indie Album Covers:

Regarding digipaks from our chosen genre, we wanted to take influence from those that have abstract and concept based ideas but also look at some that would have bigger similarities to our narrative based video. We also liked digipaks that have simple photos of the main artist superimpose onto a more bright and engaging background that had links and connections to the song. 

We feel that taking inspirations from exsisting media aretefacts in our chosen genre which have already proven to be successful and well appreciated amongst our target audience will improve the quality of our final product. Overall we felt that using colour, floral designs and photos of the main protagonist/band member in our collection of initial ideas will be benificial to having a wide variety of designs to gain feedback on from our target audience. 

Casting Research

Casting - 

For casting we only required one female actor and since we attend and all girl's school we had a variety of different options of potential people we could use. However, the descion was made to inclde Rhiannon Millard for a variety of reasons but overall we felt she would best fit the requierments of the character the best. Firstly, her experience was something we felt would only enhance and benifit our music video. She has been acting for many years both in and outside of school, she has also been in many short films so has confidence infront of a camera. Since studying Media A Level herself and having been assistant director on many short films she understands what it is like both of and on camera so she would be willing to re film and put in as much effort as necessary. 

Feedback on Animatic Storyboard - Vanilla by Fickle Friends

Teachers Response - 

• Clear narrative and original concept which will be relatable to your target audience
• Locations have good correlation to the storyline and nothing seems out of place or used because you had lack of imaginative ideas 
• However, to improve you could have a variety of different paces of shots, and make them different lengths so it isn't always repetitive
• Also, to make it more engaging for those watching shots with more movement and effects that could be added during the editing process will boost up your marks and make it more creative

Focus Group Responses - 

Amy:

• Understandable narrative and easy to follow, the use of one single character made the storyline made it someone you become invested in
• The montage when there is an instrumental towards the end of the song was enjoyable as you could recap the storyline before seeing the outcome of the character 
• As an improvement, I would add a bigger variety of shots and make some differentiation between the shot lengths and movement of the shots 

Rhiannon:

• I really like the narrative of the music video and the pace throughout the video as it fits in well with the song
• The pace isn't too fast which allows the audience to focus on the protagonist and the story that is being told through her
• To improve some shots are rather repetitive so maybe try and have a wider variety of shots

Ben:

• It was really good
• The video and narrrative goes well with the song which for me is the best part about it 
• To make it better, maybe make it clearer what is happening as at certain moments it isn't always clear 

Joe:

• I liked the over the shoulder shot looking at the dog as it is asthetically pleasing 
• I enjoyed it, it was a good pace as the song wasn't too fast 
• As an improvement, I would have more shots that are moving instead of one's that are static

Animated Storyboard - Vanilla by Fickle Friends

Animated Storyboard - 

Storyboard

Artist Permission - Fickle Friends

Permission - 

Since choosing a different band we had to seek permission to use their song 'Vanilla' in our music promotional video. We tried to find a contact email, however, we didn't find anything so we took to their Facebook page. We sent them a message and within half an hour they replied, giving us permission to use the song. Obviously, we were thrilled about this as we were worried that finding a band quickly and gaining their permission would be a difficult task. 

Vanilla by Fickle Friends - Song Analysis

Fickle Friends - Vanilla 

'Vanilla' by Fickle Friends was released as part of the bands EP called 'Glue' in early 2017. It is a very popular song by the band and has been played on Spotify over 336,842 times since its release. The song tells the story of a girl who has been mistreated by her previous partner and who she gets over the breakout and becomes a stronger person for it. 

Our New Record Label

Polydor Records - 

• Polydor is a British record label and company that operates as part of the Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope A&M Records label which distributes Polydor's releases in America. 
• This brand was established in London in 1954 as a British subsidiary of German company Deutsche Grammophon, it was renames Polydor Ltd. in 1972.
• It's artists include; The Who, Slade, Bee Gees, Girls Aloud, Take That and of course Fickle Friends.

Though Polydor's American branch is nearly inactive, in the UK Polydor remains one of the strongest labels in the country with many successful artists signed to it. In 2006, Polydor launched Fascination Records, a music label dedicated to pop music. Girls Aloud transferred to this label and created groups including The Saturdays. 

Our New Band

Changing the Band and the Song - 

We decided to change our band and song as after talking to our teacher and discussing the new idea she expressed how she liked it but failed to see the correlation between the song and the video. Predominantly because the song is written and sung by a heavily influenced male band and the video would be being told from a female's perspective. 

Therefore, we researched into the genre we have already chosen (indie/alternative) and found a band with a lead female singer, Fickle Friends. We listened to several of their songs and decided we really enjoyed their sound and lyrics. We decided we liked the song 'Vanilla' and contacted them and we were fortunate enough to get a reply instantly with their permission to use their song. 

Fickle Friends - 

Fickle Friends is an English indie pop band from Brighton. The band formed in 2013 and is made of of Natassja Shiner (lead vocals and keyboard), Harry Herrington (bass, backing vocals), Chris Hall (lead guitar), Sam Morris (drums) and Jack Wilson (keyboard). 

After two years of touring the UK and Europe without a label or publisher and playing at 53 festivals across 2 years, Fickle Friends signed to Polydor Records. The band is recording their debut album in Los Angeles with Mike Crossey.

They have released several singles and EP's including; Glue, Crybaby, Brooklyn, Swim and Hello Hello. Many of these have promotional music videos to accompany them, they are a mixture of concept, narrative and performance and are extremely bright whilst appearing to be upbeat despite the deeper meaning to the lyrics.

Changing Our Idea

Promotional Music Video - Ideas Change: 

After re-watching back our footage for our music video, myself and Abbie decided that we no longer liked the idea we had for our video and felt we could make something more engaging and of a better quality. So in our last double lesson we sat down and revisited the lyrics for The Hunna 'Brother' and together came up with a new idea. 

Our Idea: 

• Our video will be narrative base and follow the story of a girl who is isolated and very insecure about herself. We chose this as a story line as we believe that these are common emotions and feelings that many teenage girls feel and suppress. The video will have several location and the main idea will be that the song will be written by her for the band and throughout the video she tries to find where she belongs and fits it. It will end with her seeing her song being released as a single and her being credited for writing it. 

Location Ideas: 

• Bedroom = We choose this for our main location that the video will keep coming back too as we believe that this is a place where most people feel at ease and can be themselves. It is there own space that they can make their own and escape too.
• Woods/field = This is a second location, this will be used when she is out walking her dog, we also thought that when people need space to be alone the often go for walks around isolated environments to think.
• Cafe = Here we will have her alone writing her music and being somewhere where you would commonly go with someone else to highlight the juxtaposition between her isolation and how society gets on with everything. 

What We Are Doing Now:

For the next coming days we will focus on getting all of our shots and storyboard done so we can get some constructive feedback from our focus group, target audience and teachers. We have already found a suitable actor who is willing to play the role and we know she will give it her best shot. Furthermore, we will find a cafe that will allow us to film in and get permission so we can hopefully commence filming over the next week or two. 

First Draft - 'Brother' By The Hunna

Feedback From Focus Group:

Joe - 

• I like the locations you chose I think it makes it relatable as it is somewhere that you can see yourself being at
• The use of smoke flares are an interesting concept and I like how the reoccur throughout the video
• To improve try using more editing techniques and a bigger variety of shots 

Amy - 

• I like how you used the beat and tempo of the music to cut and edit the video to as it is engaging and increases the pace 
• I also liked the narrative of the video although it could be made clearer 
• To improve I would make the shots less static by including more moving shots and make sure you change costumes for different times/scenes/locations

Rhiannon - 

• I liked certain aspects of the performance especially the bits filmed in the field as the lip syncing was successful their 
• I also liked the smoke flares as they are commonly seen in indie/alternative music videos 
• To improve I would try and improve the quality of the lip syncing in the rest of the video

Ben - 

• 
  

We decided to change our song and concept after speaking to our teacher, peers and focus group and gaining their feedback. Since we still have a good amount of time to make it better we believe it would be in our best interests to change the idea. Also, we wanted to refilm however communication between ourselves and the actors was not the best and their reliability and commitment to the video weren't what we hoped. 

Props List

List - 

• Smoke Flares 
• Notepad 
• Pen 
• Money 
• Train tickets 
• Train map 
• Clapperboard 
• DSLR Camera (equipment)
• Tripod (equipment)
• Mobile phone 

Reasoning for choosing these props/equipment - 

Following on from our props research we have altered some of the props that we used. Our statement prop of smoke flares hasn't changed as they are a big part of our music video. We also added a railway map to our prop list since doing our research as we felt it was useful when filming the flashback scenes of our music video, other than that our props remained the same. We chose a camera that belonged to Abbie who is my partner due to its quality and the functions it has. Also, we chose to use my tripod to take steady and secure shots. 

Mood board of props/equipment - 

Filming Journal

Filming Journal Prezi - 

I chose to present my filming journal in a prezi. Overall our day filming went really well, we manage to get all the shots we wanted and everything went to plan. 

Focus Group Feedback on Digipak

Feedback on Digipak - 

We have settled on a final idea for our digipak and enlisted the help and advice from our focus group so we can make any changes and alterations before settling on the final design. This was our idea we chose and our focus group all loved the concept as well as the message behind it but they had some constructive criticism.

Amy:

• The concept of embossed fonts looks good
• However, the white capital font looks rather plain and could be redone to look more engaging  
• Potentially a more creative design across certain panels to be more appealing to a wider audience 

Rhiannon: 

• I love the background colour and how the merge together on one of the covers 
• I like how they represent both brothers have two different colours and how they fuse together in the cover 
• The colour motif is memorable throughout your ancillary tasks and the music video 

Joe: 

• I like the art style and the shadows of the heads that represent the characters from the music video
• I also like the colours but the orange and white text blend into the background and make it hard to read what it says clearly 
• The tracklist seems out of place where it is so maybe to try and find a different place to make the shadows more clear as they are important and I like them 

Ben:

• I like the way and structure of the cd covers 
• I also like the colours and silhouettes because they contrast with each other well making them stand out 
• Perhaps include more detail than just the heads to have a larger variety 

Focus Group Feedback on Magazine Advertisement

Feedback on Magazine Advertisement -

As a pair, we decided from our initial ideas what magazine advertisement we preferred and the one we felt complimented our idea and themes best. Much like our digipak, there is a common theme of the blue and orange running throughout yet the design isn't too similar to create differentiation but still, have similarities to ensure they are relatable.  

Amy: 

• I like how it is the same colour scheme as the video and the digipak giving it continuity across the advertisement of the song
• I also like how the silhouette heads are similar to the ones on the digipak and how it represents the two brothers 
• To improve, the fonts and text styles could be more interesting and engaging such as having the two different fonts similar to the digipak

Rhiannon:

• I like the silhouette heads 
• However, I think the text juxtaposes to much with each other, possibly have the same font for the title and the artist's name
• Yet overall I really like the concept of the magazine advertisement 

Joe: 

• I like the contrast between the blank silhouettes and the colours in the background 
• Also, I like the text that says Brother and I like the style of it matches the bold colours 
• However, the cursive text at the bottom doesn't fit the style of the poster and doesn't look very engaging

Ben: 

• I really like the fonts that were used due to them being clear and engaging 
• Additionally, I like how the characters from the video are displayed as silhouettes 
• The colours look rather similar and could look rather boring, maybe make them darker to increase the contrast

Pitch

Pitch - 

Storyboard

Animatic Storyboard

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment - 

Location – Windsor (The Brocas, Windsor High Street, Eton Bridge and The Riverside)

Production Title – The Hunna, Brother

Date of Filming – Friday 27^th October

Group Members – Abbie Goddard and Chloe Hughes 

Props Research

Props - 

We don't have many props due to the costs involved but we do have a few that are crucial in the storyline of the promotional video. Our main prop is smoke flares, these are commonly used at festivals and they emit a harmless coloured smoke. We have chosen the colours blue and orange due to the connotations of these colours and how they compliment to storyline behind our chosen song. Additionally, we will have a mobile phone to be used by the actors as it is a common device used among teenagers to make it more realistic and relatable. Furthermore, we will have a clapperboard to be used at the beginning to detail the type of production and to introduce the story and song. 

Location Research

Location Research -

Our main location is Windsor and we will be filming a variety of places in the town. We chose this location as it has both urban and rural environments to make our video look more complex. We will be filming at; The Brocas, Eton Highstreet, Eton Bridge, the train station and the riverside. 

The Brocas is where we will be filming the majority of the video, we chose this area because it is secluded yet easy to access. The limited amounts of pedestrians mean it will be easy and convenient to film. However, although other area's such as the train station and the high street will be more crowded we will film at times when it is less busy to avoid crowds of people.

The Brocas:

Eton Bridge:

Train Station:

Costume and Makeup Research

Costume and Makeup -

For the costume, we will have rather simplistic clothes that are naturalistic for our protagonists. Black jeans will be worn throughout but we will have several different tops and jackets when filming shots that are part of the memory sequences. Also, when they are using the flares in the chorus they will be wearing neutral tops to make the colour stand out even more. Regarding make - up, we will use no makeup as we believe it isn't required for our actors. 

Casting Research

Casting - 

Regarding our casting, we wanted to choose people who had an interest in the alternative genre. This would mean that when it came to filming the performance would look more realistic because the people in the video would enjoy the music. Also, confidence. Even if our actors didn't have performing experience as such we wanted them to be confident in front of a camera. Finally, due to the basic story behind the song we wanted them to be male and brothers. 

Therefore our chosen actors our Ben and Jack Thompson who are twin brothers. They are both extremely confident and love the band we have chosen meaning the lip syncing will be more realistic. Also, their style and appearance are similar to that of the band itself, this will make our promotional music video, magazine and digipak more true to the genre. 

Ben Thompson:

Jack Thompson:

Mood Board

I decided to do a mood board to present some initial ideas we had that are related to both our main and ancillary tasks to display our thoughts in a visual way. Location ideas, colours, props and concept ideas for our promotional videos have been included to show the basis of our thinking and ideas. This helps us when planning as we have ideas not only in word but also something that can visually represent what we are thinking and planning.