Diary Of Meetings

20-11-2014

The group meeting that took place today consist of the main issues of deciding on key

information for our final media product. This consisted of deciding on a song and also picking the

perfect artist that would match the image that we had in mind for an individual who has an urban

edge to them but at the same time can highly entice female audiences in order to fit into the

fundamental convention of a male R&B artist.

Initially we had a selection of two songs and after the group had carefully taken time to attentively

listen and consider which song was best to creatively expand upon to create an element of visual

artwork there were diverse opinions as 1 member out of the 4 disagreed with the majority. This

individual’s reason was based upon the idea that the lyrical content of the song and the music

video must be literal and closely link however some of the elements of the song are explicit and

are viewed to be too ambitious to carry out. After again listening to both songs and wa tching

various music videos this group member noticed that not all music videos and soundtracks have

direct links and contributed to alternatives that would heighten the technical aspect of our music

video.

Also we had two very talented artists who we attempted to decide between, Denis and Jordan.

However it was clear to our group that Jordan simply falls into many essential reflections of our

aim including his sense of style, soulful vocals and his fatal attraction.

24-11-2014

-locations

Due to my job role of carrying out the mise-en-scene aspects of my media product it was key that

my group and I discussed the type of locations we wanted to include in our music video. Initially

we had planned on using locations such as a recording studio, a set with a black screen where

the artist could do a solo performance and also using a significant London location such as

London Bridge or Southbank. However due to our deferred decision on the song that we will be

using it was clear that a lot of these locations would not fit in with the concept of the song and the

general mood associated with it we therefore decided to keep the location of the black screen

performance and incorporate an outdoor location in which will be located in an city area as these

types of setting encompass a vibrant atmosphere at night and this is the time of day we plan to

film that particular scene.

In terms of finding somewhere to use for filming the scenes for the solo performance we had

knowledge that are was a film studio facilities within our college however it was only to be used

by the BTEC students and as an A level students we were not allowed to use it. Due to our

college having a school link to a media school we were then appointed to these facilities by our

subject teacher as a place to achieve the best quality setting with advance lighting, camera and

sound equipment.

Overall we still have numerous other locations to add to our final music video however the issue

of how to merge these locations in the editing process without the final product looking

unprofessional.

While developing on ideas for locations we also began to draw up the scenes for the storyboard

in order to help us to be decisive when in the process of filming.

27-11-2014

Thursday was the day that my group and I were planning to use the filming facilities and begin

recording scenes for our music video , however although we had given Jordan (Our Artist) notice

and also asked him for his availability beforehand , he then told us on the day that he could no

longer attend. We then had to cancel the booking of the facilities. It was made clear to my group

and I that this was not the first time that Jordan had cancelled and not met particular

requirements asked of him and therefore could not tolerate his unreliable behaviours as it would

then effect the pace and quality of our final media product and also our overall coursework.

Due to coming to such conclusions it was vital we choose a new artist to help us achieve our

music video. However all members of the group decided for the rest of the week to see if we

could seek out any potential artist to replace Jordan and to report back with our findings in the

next meeting.

The soundtrack of our music video was written and performed by Jordan we then had to

brainstorm a number of other similar R&B songs and decided along with the search to find an

artist we also all individually had to come up with numerous song choices to present to the group.

4-12-2014

Based upon the fact that my group and I did not have an artist we decided to separately research

to find a new one however when we sat down to discuss our findings we had no solid ideas for a

replacing artist as the individuals who could be potential candidates could not match our

availability requirements and also did not seem as if they would fit the particular image in which

we had pictured connecting with our target audience.

I then went on to write an artist proposal to then send to the drama and music department

looking for talented individuals who want to promote their talents within the music video and

generally explain the concept of the music video and the part they would play if they featured in

it. We then were told by our media teacher that the head of BTEC drama had acknowledge this

information and told his students about our production. The head of drama had given us the

chance to come done to his lesson the following week and talk more in depth about the music

video and any questions that anyone may have.

The song choice was still not something that had been decided upon and finalized, however a

song which matched a similar theme and mood in which the previous artists song included was a

song by Bryson Tiller entitled don’t and ironically is an upcoming artist just as our prev ious artist

was. The fact that the song could easily link to the storyboard my group had created made this

song a strong candidate.

Lastly although there was no matching artist for the project, my group and I thought it was

essential to begin shooting solo scenes of the actress who would play the love interest of the

main male artist. Therefore planned to film the following Thursday.

8-12-2014

Based upon the fact my group and I still did not have an artist we had set up a meeting with

drama and music department to scout for talent to replace the previous artist. I and another

group member Natalia went to both subject departments and spoke in depth about what our

project was about and generally what we required of the individual, this included:

-An urban image, represented in their fashion sense

- Flexible availability mainly Monday, Wednesday and Thursday

- Reliable

-Confident in front of the camera

-Preferably a male

After covering these vital points, a sheet of paper was handed around to those who felt they

would suit this roll and wrote down their contact details (either an email addresses or phone

number). After leaving the meeting my group and I discussed our findings and discovered that

we didn’t find anyone who fit the type of image that we were looking for.

Although we did not have an artist we had an actress who would play the love interest and

However in our favour, the initial artist we wanted to use (Jordan) reached out to us and wanted

to have a meeting about possibly reclaiming himself as the artist for this project. This meeting

was scheduled for Thursday 11 th December.

11-12-2014

The meeting with Jordan today consisted of him explaining that as an upcoming artist he has a

highly active schedule and therefore stated he had no issue with assisting to this project but

needed to verify the days in which he is free so my group and I could work around it with the

matching availability of the studios within college and also outside facilities in which our college is

linked to.

Before ending the meeting I ensured Jordan was legit about sticking to these commitments in

writing and then clarified a day in which he was free and booked outside facilities that were

available.

As planned my group and I set out to film particular scenes however due to the fact staff within

the college needed to occupy the film studio for interviewing sessions. My group and I were had

no location to shoot in and therefore with the assistance of my media teacher ended up in our

media classroom however we quickly learned it wasn’t practical to film in the classroom based on

the fact it was too small and the process felt rushed.

Based upon all the following issues shooting for this day was cancelled.

15-12-2014

This was our last meeting before the Christmas holidays would begin.

As 2 group members out of 4 were not present it was evident that after we came back from the

Christmas holidays we could all agree on firm conformations of a filming schedule.

8-01-2015

As this was our first lesson back from the holidays in which all group members were present we

decided to instantly set a date to film. As we still needed some initial planning to do we gave

ourselves some time to do so and therefore set a date for the 19 th January for outside facilities.

15-01-2015

During this meeting my group and I were also accompanied by my media teacher as she was

worried about the confusions to do with getting a reliable artist but also when we would begin to

film. To my own regret in the process of this meeting my group and I contacted the artist Jordan

and he began to come up with numerous explanations as to why he could no longer be a part of

this project. Therefore based upon the fact that time was running out my group and I came to the

discussion to use someone within in our group to be the ar tist as we could no longer afford to rely

on someone else.

We choose Abdul and all agreed this was best for the group and our general progress in this

project. As he is in the group, he already had knowledge of what was expected and required of

him.

At this point all the post production planning was being put into effect in order to prepare for the

finalized day of shooting which would take place on Monday 19 th January.

This booking was confirmed via email with my Media teacher.

18-01-2015

CONFERNECE CALL:

Due to it being a weekend day and the following day being the first day to film my group and I

had a conference call about the finalizations of filming. This included:

Song choice – which was drake the motion. Costumes – All black attire Meeting places and meeting time – oxford circus station at 2:15pm Numerous shots that needed to be filmed

19-01-2015

Today , my group and I filmed for the first time at 01 studios and filmed some quality footage

which included the artist Abdul performing in front of a green screen and took a variety of shoots

to ensure when it came to editing there was a lot of footage to play around with.

We decided as a group that Thursday 22nd January would be our next shooting date where we

would also include the female love interest. On this upcoming day we planned to shoot both the

artist and the love interest Jenifer and they would be seen to be the story of the video, as they

are a couple in love but however cannot remain together for whatever reasons.

22-01-2015

Today was our final day of shooting as the love interested was introduced and she also was

accompanied within some of the shoots by the main artist Curley. Jenifer’s role within today’s

shooting process consisted of her performing to the camera and also the hesitant rela tionship

between her and Curley showcased to audiences. Also my group and I thought it would be key to

get a few additional scenes with the artist on his own.

29-01-2015

My group and I wanted to view the footage however there were some technical difficulties as Eric

the owner of the studio had sent over the footage but however it was not displaying on the

server and therefore we could not access the footage . My teacher and Eric liaised about how to

overcome this issue and said it would be fixed by the time we had our lesson that week.

HISTORY TRIP TO BELGIUM – BACK ON THURSDAY 5TH FEB

09-02-2015

The footage was successfully found on the server today and enabled my group and I to watch

through the clips and discuss which parts we wanted to keep or get rid of. This then gave the

editor Natalia time to begin edit.

12-02-2015

Due to the intense build up towards having particular deadlines of our coursework set by our

teacher my group members and I decided to just stick to getting on with aiming to complete all of

our work set and the meeting was then scheduled, however half term was approaching so it was to

be after half term a new meeting would take place.

HALF TERM BEGINNING 13H FEB – 23RD

24-02-15

My group and I were told by our teacher that we were going to have a screening in which

classmates, family, friends and teachers would be invited to watch my classes’ productions. It was

clear that we need to construct an audience feedback questionnaire along with ensuring our video

was up to the best standards it could be. We came up with a number of questions to ask audiences

including:

Is the narrative clear?

What are your favourite aspects of the music video?

What needs to be improved?

We also came up with a few more as we then typed them up then printed them out ready for

the screening on the 3rd March.

26-02-15

The technician had the role of ensuring that everyone’s video was ready to be showcased

for Tuesday however he stated to my group and I that there were some inappropriate

language in our music video and therefore said I refused to play it at the screen until this

altered.

Due to the fact the editor in my group was not in and the video was only on her computer we

decided to inform her via a phone call. She stated to me and the rest of the group member

that she would be in on Monday to deal with this issue.

An arrangement of finding the same song however using a clean version was the

decision that we reached via a phone conversation.

I and the rest of my group members then decide to stick to working on the promotional

advert. The colour scheme of black and white was key theme that we planned to stick to

during brainstorming ideas about the digipak products.

02-03-15

Following the issues around the inappropriate language in the music video Natalia who is the

editor in the group then immediately dealt with this issue so that our video would be ready for

the following day.

03-03-15

DAY OF THE SCREENING

A number of questionnaires were filled out

Interviews were also held about the opinions on the video

Inspiration gained from the creative work of others in my class

05-03-15

In this lesson we discussed the results and information gained from the screening held.

Majority of the positives consisted of:

Good quality – professional look

Many people liked the song choice

The style of the artist

There were also some negatives however this was crucial as this would assist us on what to

alter to better our overall product:

The scenes carried on for too long

The main female character seemed uncomfortable – inadequate acting skills

Lack of variation of shots

The video needed to have additional locations

We then decided to cut down scenes but mainly focused on cutting down the ones were the

main love interest looked uncomfortable.

Also the agreement on adding more cuts and fades as well as editing techniques was

announced to help give the impression that scenes were shorter, more variations of shots

were implemented and overall boost the entertainment factor.

It was too late to do anything about finding new locations so it was key that we had to work

with what we had.

12-03-15

After a couple of days of discussions as well as multiple drafts we watched the final draft and

no feedback was given from any members of the group as we were content with it and

therefore decided that we would now work on giving focal attention to coursework task

individually. It was also declared by my teacher that we had to also give key attention to

learning exam prep.