Final filming: session 1

The plan for recording and filming changed because Sam (whose house and equipment I was using) had to work on Wednesday, and so we changed the date to Saturday afternoon. However, this meant that Morrighan wasn't available to assist me in filming any longer due to her work. I arranged for two others to help me operate the cameras but neither of them could make it on the day and only messaged me in the morning, which meant that I didn't have time to find an alternative camera operator. 

I met Toby at Sam's house at 1pm and we had some trouble getting the output set up correctly on the program Sam uses for recording, and so were a little set back, although we worked it out after a while. We began by plugging Toby's guitar in and recording the music, which we did a couple of takes of, followed by the vocals which we recorded through a microphone. This meant that we had to take extra care in sitting/standing still in order to avoid making any sounds that the microphone might have picked up in the background. 

Once we had finished recording, I then moved some furniture around in order to make a corner of the room aesthetically pleasing. Sam kindly offered to operate one of the cameras for me until she had to complete some of her own work, and so I set up one camera on a tripod and had her film with that one. When she had to get to work, I simply set up the camera angle etc. and let it record. This meant that I had a constant base shot which was in a position that always showed Toby (mid-shot) and didn't have breaks. Whilst this happened, I used my other camera to get various aesthetically pleasing shots, stopping and changing, throughout the song. Shots I used included reveal shots, panning, low angle, high angle, balanced shots, and I ensured that I filmed many close ups in order to conform to the 'star quality' convention for music videos. (I wrote about this in my 'What is a Music Video?' PowerPoint presentation.) I did this twice; the first time Toby played his guitar and mimed the lyrics whilst sitting down. The second time, I turned the microphone off and had Toby stand and mime so that he appears to be recording the song at that moment. I ensured that I kept his guitar near him in plain sight of the camera, as his genre is acoustic and guitars are part of his brand identity. 

Sam's friend, Mark, kindly agreed to teach me how to use the software that he uses to edit recordings in order to make them sound more professional, as he runs a company that makes music videos for artists. He has taught me the basics, and told me what I need to do to touch up the recording etc. so, as soon as Sam sends it to me by email, I can make a start on this and do my best. I also have Mark's number in case I need any assistance. 

Arranging final filming sessions and recording

I have talked with Toby about when he is likely to be available and he has told me that he is free most Wednesday evenings and Saturdays, although he is busy this coming Saturday (10th January). With this in mind, I'm planning to record the song and film the first section of the music video next Wednesday evening (14th January). I have made sure I have two extra camera operators available so that I can vary my shots, and so I just need to make sure this date suits Sam (my relative who is allowing me to use her home recording equipment) and double-check that this would be okay with Toby.

I have a video camera of my own that I can use, and I am also able to borrow two cameras from the school. I have access to a tripod, and one of my camera operators, Morrighan, has kindly offered to bring hers next Wednesday.

I also need to get the rest of the filming done in a different location(s), and so hopefully I can do this the following Saturday (17th). Again, I need to make sure any people I need are available. 

On Wednesday, I intend to focus on establishing star quality and making an icon of Toby by filming many close-ups and establishing shots etc, which is what his audience would want to see and is also a main convention for the music video genre. Whereas, on Saturday, I will focus on filming the narrative/concept of the music video.

Finding a recording studio

I needed to find a recording studio in order to record Toby's song, and also so that I can film this happening and use this footage as part of the music video. I am on a very low budget, and many of the recording studios in Norwich are fairly expensive, so I asked around some musicians I know to see where would be cheapest to go. My distant relative, Samantha Knight, is a professional singer. She kindly offered her home recording equipment for me to use, which was slightly concerning because ideally I wanted to film somewhere that actually looked like a recording studio. However, I think this would be better for Toby's image, as artists nowadays really focus on connecting with their audience and I feel that using a less professional location would allow him to display a 'down-to-earth' personality with his young audience.

Institution targets

I used the Sky Guide TV Listings website to look at the music channels and their scheduling, so that I could decide where I would exhibit my music video on the television. 

I've chosen to aim for Fridays between 5pm and 9pm because this is usually when young people are likely to be getting ready to go out for the evening or having people over and, in both of these situations, my target audience are likely to have music videos playing in the background. 

These are the channels available:

The genre of music television channel that I should schedule my music video for is pop/mixed hits (because Toby's brand identity isn't anything alternative so I would say that his style is quite 'mainstream') which, according to Wikipedia, consists of 4Music, Bliss, The Box, Capital TV, Chart Show TV, Heat, MTV Hits, MTV Live, MTV Music, Planet Pop, Smash Hits, Starz TV, VH1 and Viva.  Therefore, any of these channels would be appropriate for my music video to be exhibited. 

Ed Sheeran photographs

I have chosen these photographs to look at for inspiration for a concept for Toby's photoshoot, due the similarities in his and Ed Sheeran's brand identities. I find the first two images especially aesthetically pleasing, and I may go with this idea of experimenting with reflections, although I definitely would like to have a guitar visible in the photographs in order to display Toby's acoustic singer-songwriter genre to his audience. I also think I should dress him in casual clothing in order to conform to his brand identity. 

My next steps are to plan out an exact concept (props/lighting/costume/angles/location etc.)  and then arrange a suitable time with Toby.

Identifying a focus group

In order to identify a focus group consisting of my target audience, I posted a status on Facebook briefly explaining what I'm aiming to do and requesting males and females between the ages of 14 and 20 to take part. I decided to recruit on a social networking site because, typically, people of this age group are digitally literate and so check their news feeds regularly and are also probably more likely to offer their assistance if it's organised in an informal manner, as they are perhaps not as familiar and/or comfortable with a professional/serious environment as an older audience may be. With this in mind, once enough people have replied (ideally, I would like an equal number of males and females, and a range in ages), I will create a Facebook group for my focus group where we can attempt to organise meetings during which I can present my ideas/work to them and film their feedback OR I could simply link things from my blog and/or other websites onto the page and use the poll tool to collect feedback (or simply post questions). 

Production plan

I am going to create a music video, and its two ancillary products; the artist's website homepage and an album digipak. In order to achieve this, during the next 2-3 months, I need to:

Audience

• Identify a focus group in the near future so that I can continuously come back to them for feedback throughout the production of my products. I want this focus group to be both males and females between the ages of 14 and 20, so that it's appropriate to my target audience. I also want the focus group to consist of people that are interested in the acoustic, easy-listening genre of music. 
• Meet with my focus group to present my 'Brief 1:Initial Ideas' Prezi, and collect any opinions and ideas they can provide me with.
• Collect more data for my target market survey, create graphs from the results using Microsoft Edexcel, and then present these on my blog. I could ask students in the school and 6th form to complete it during form time, as these ages would conform to my target audience.

Music video

• Make sure I've got my basic storyline/concept figured out for the music video, draw out a rough storyboard and present the idea(s) to my focus group. Then I can proceed by conducting an interview with one or two of them, in order to find out which aspects of the idea(s) pleased them and which they believe could be adapted. 
• Book a recording studio and record the song. (Research the best way to store the recording so that I can easily upload it onto iMovie.)
• Create an animatic of the music video (which I can also get feedback from my focus group on).

Artist's website homepage

• Gather some information from Toby about his personal/music life etc. so that I can begin creating his website homepage (including some photographs).
• Create my template (colour scheme, roughly where everything will go etc.)

Digipak

• Find a photographer and begin planning a photoshoot (theme, costume, location, lighting etc.) to use for the album cover. I also need to decide whether I want to conduct two separate photoshoots so that I can use the other set to illustrate the website homepage. If so, I need to coordinate the colour scheme etc. with that of the website.

I think that, before I do any planning/production with Toby, I need to organise some sort of system with him so that I know when he's most likely to be busy and when he should be free to work each fortnight or so. This is due to his many commitments including A levels, the lead role in We Will Rock You, the lead male role in Hairspray, a role in Lord of the Flies, his job and university applications etc.