Documentary Idea

After brain storming my idea for a documentary i decided to do it on student stress and about student life in general. It is going to be an investigative documentary.

The documentary will follow a student as he goes to college, goes home and follows what he does outside of college. I am making it sort of like a fly-on-the-wall. Throughout the documentary there will be interviews with some students including the student i'm following as well, i will also interview the college counsellor Zena Nolan on her professional look and views on student stress.

My documentary is meant to be a series of programmes about stress, in which i would've looked at Police officers and MPs already.

I have tried to incorporate different elements of a documentary in my production. I have tried to include,

• Vox Pop - When i went to the college cafe and a pub to ask students about stress.
• Actuality - I have filmed an actual lesson taking place and have filmed a classroom of students working.
• Fly on the Wall - I follow my selected student around college, filmed him getting on the bus and also walking through the park.
• Voice over - In the corrent stage i'm at i haven't completely finished the voiceover parts of the film, however i have planned where a voice over needs to be.
• Interviews - I arranged myself an interview with Zena Nolan, a college counsellor at Sutton College.
• Music - I haven't yet incorporated music into the actual film yet in the editing process. However i have chosen an Instrumental soundtrack with no lyrics that i reckon will fit the purpose well simpley becasue it has a good beat and i think this sort of music you could assosiate with students and young people.

Change of Idea

For my original music video idea, i decided to change. And now i'm thinking of doing a documentary.

I decided to dump my first idea as i thought it was a bit far fetched and would be challenging to film. Another factor of this is that it has been a difficult task to find a good actor for my film, and also nobody was willing to help me with it.

I have brainstormed an idea for a documentary and have had ideas about students doing their A-levels and the pressures put on them from teachers, parents and the work that is piled on them. Also how their home life and social life have an impact on their lifes.

Using Final Cut Pro

In practice for editing my film, i did a practice task on creating a film trailer of Star Wars on Final Cut Pro. In doing this i managed to familiarise myself with the functions and different buttons that allow you to create a good video.

Practise using 'Photoshop' and 'Pages' using Apple Macs

On this publication we first started on the 'Pages' software on the Apple macs and created a front page spread and did all our own writing about The Killers and Kings of Leon.

Next we transferred the publication to PhotoShop and had a go at finding out the different functions and ways of editing and interpreting images.

By doing this we gain experience in the different softwares.

Task 6: Storyboards

The purpose of a storyboard is to pre-visualise a sequence you are filming and to create a brief outline of every shot in the sequence with detailed notes at the bottom identifying what is happening in each shot.

Storyboards allow the filmmaker to be able to shoot the film based on the shots drawn and information underneath. Main ones include,

• Framing - ie close up (CU), long shot (LS), point of view (POV).
• Dialogue - Parts of dialogue spoken and from this the director can track what part of the film he/she is in from the script (short film, documentary).
• Actions - What the actors are doing and generally what is occuring in the shot.

Task 7: Role allocation, Auteur

I have decided to do this task alone as an Auteur. This means that all my work is my idea and i create it myself with obviously the help of actors. In last years task i worked in a group of 3 and i found that i wasn't getting what i wanted to do in the film ac cross very well and the communication was not very good, which was frustrating. As an Auteur this factor is eliminated and i have complete control over my production piece.

The Auteur theory ('Auteur' is French for 'Author') refers to the director's direct input into the film he/she is making. Been around since the 1950s it suggested that the director of a film is the author because it's their personal vision on a movie is strongly felt more than anything else. François Truffaut, an influential filmmaker, once said "film is a great medium for expressing the personal ideas of the director" and also said "There are no good and bad movies, only good and bad directors". These all support the theory that the Auteur/Author of films is the director because it's them who have the major creative force in a motion picture and it's them who bring the film alive and who create the film and make it what it is.

Task 8: Final Proposal

The song for my Music video is going to be One Year, Six Months by Yellowcard which is one of my favourite songs of all time.

The style is going to be mainly narrative based with little performance parts, of which the main character will be miming, but not on any stage per say but just going about his everyday life. An example of what i mean would be Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve, in this video the lead singer is just walking down the street singing the song.

The type of music channel for broadcast i would like to see my music video on would be a mainly Rock channel 'MTV Rock'. Now that we can access music videos 'On-Demand' online, my audience can access the music video on the MTV music website. Another Channel which was very popular in my audience survey was 4MUSIC and my music video would also be appropriate for that music channel.

The working title for my Music video will be

One Year, Six Months
Yellowcard
Ocean Avenue

The Target audience for this video is mainly teenagers and young adults. I decided on a 12-25 age span of this song and video. This is due to the 'emo' type nature of the song and of the band, Yellowcard, in general. For the video in general which is a majority narrative based video, i would say would most likely to be aimed at a younger audience simply because of the young actor in this video and also to be more specific, females would be a prime audience because of the storyline. It's a sensitive storyline involving someone trying to get over the death of their partner. Its more a female orientated subject.

The social group i have opted for are,

1) D's (because the teenagers will not have a job or much economic status therefore would be dropped into the category
2) C's (Teenagers and young adults could possibly have jobs therefore they would be bunked up to the C category)

Idea for the Song

Yellowcard - One Year, Six Months

This song is very sad and from the lyrics i determined that it was to do with a guys girlfriend having left him or possibly she died. In the lyrics he sings about how he's falling into memories of her and the things they used to do suggests that they're no longer together by the past tense of 'used to' being incorporated at the end of the line.



"I'm falling into memories of you and things we used to do
Follow me there
A beautiful somewhere
A place that i can share with you"

These lyrics give me the impression that he dreams about this girl. The only way he can be with her is in his dreams which might support the likeliness she died. And he wants her to follow him to his dreams.



"All that i've got to pull me through is memories of you"

This line is about him trying to come to terms with the split of them both, and the only thing that can pull him throught and help him get over it is the many great times they spent together. Again this might suggest that she died, as all he has left is memories of her.

Own analysis of music video: The Only Exception by Paramore

The music video to The Only Exception by Paramore is done in a narrative and performance style, which is how I intend to do my music video. However in the video there is a stage performance, whereas mine will not feature a stage performance but just the artist miming the song.

From the first scene we can see the artist (lead singer) is leaving her boyfriend. The medium shot shows us her unhappiness, and this becomes apparent when she leaves a note to him saying "I'm sorry". SO we now can probably tell the narrative is going to be based around her trying to find her feet in her personal life as she is still young, doesn't know exactly what she wants yet.

Carrying on from that, the next scene includes who i can guess is her father. She gives him a hug. Maybe she is turning to her dad for guidance and support in this confusing time in her life. She sings the lyric "I'd never sing of love, If it does not exist". This could mean to say that she doesn't believe in love anymore since other lyrics suggest that her parents got a divorce or that her mother isn't around anymore. She saw her dads heart break and the same is happening to her. So to her love is the imaginary piece of insanity then never truly occurs.

Hayley (singer) then looks like she is stealing a a picture of what we assume is an old picture of her mom and dad together, she hides it from her dad as she walks into the next room. She cherishes it by sticking it on her mirror in her room.

A high angle shot pulls out from a close up to a long shot of Hayley lying on what looks like love letters possibly to her. This implies that she has lots of men after her, but all she wants is a proper man and clearly not any of the ones who have wrote letters.

As the video goes along, a speed dating style activity is occurring, we can see this from the long shot of the room she is in which is like a restaurant with men lining up to sit with her. From the close ups of her face we can see she is trying to make an effort but deep inside she is not enjoying it or that she doesn't see the point. And also she doesn't seem to realise that lots of men are desperate to talk to her but she refuses.

She walks through the next door to come to a wedding ceremony. In which Hayley is dressed in black whereas the rest of the congregation is in white. This could lead us to think shat she doesn't belong there and doesn't belong with or meant to be with anyone.

The next part of the video is mainly performance based and of Hayley in a night club. Slow-mo shots of her in the night club express her letting all her frustration out but jumping up and down in a night club trying to have fun. And it's here where she meets the guy she left on the sofa at the start of the video. Maybe she was so confused that didn't realised that this bloke is actually the one she is meant to be with. To be able to get accross the message that she is with the right man, They act out the speed dating scene again and Hayley looks like she is enjoying herself as she laughs with him.

A montage of shots that see her running through the different scenes from the video in reverse order so its as if she is going back on herself as she had an apifany this guy is the one. She walks into the room from the first shot to lay back down with her boyfriend. So this could then suggest the the whole video was just a realisation.

Idea: Music Video

Artist: Yellowcard
Song: One Year, Six Months



I felt that this song is widely open to interpretation. After listening and reading the lyrics i have concluded that the song is about a boy getting over a breakup with his girlfriend. However i want to take it to a more serious and deeper meaning and it will be centred around him getting to terms with the sudden death of his girlfriend who he was extremely close to and loved more than he had anyone.

At first i decided that the girlfriend would die from being run over, but thinking about this the could prove difficult in actually filming it. So i think it would be better that it starts with the boyfriend looking at some flowers tied to a tree where she died.

The video will see the boyfriend reminiscing about the good times they spent together, by revisiting places they had fun, like at the park places. He will also look at photos of them and tears will fall onto them.

When he revisits places they spent together, it will turn black and white as a flashback of them two together in that same place.

He will also go visit her grave and sit by it, picking grass, spending time with her.

Task 4: Questionnaire and results

Name:…………………………………………….
Age:……..
Gender: Male/Female


1) What is your preferred genre of music? Please circle
You may circle more than one

A) Rock B) Metal C) Pop D) Indie E) Rap/Hip-Hop

F) R&B G) Other:……………………..


2) What Music channels do you normally watch?
You may circle more than one

A) MTV Base B) VH1 C) VIVA D) 4MUSIC E) Kiss

F) Smash Hits! G) Q H) Scuzz I) Channel AKA

J) Other:…………………………..


3) What type of Music Video do you like?

A) Narrative B) Performance C) Artistic/Abstract

D) Combination of both Narrative and Performance

E) Other:…………………………

• (A clear storyline is being portrayed in the video)
• (Artist is performing the actual song live or just miming)
• (Imaginative and creative with most of the video using special effects)


4) Do you like the use of special effects in music videos?

Yes / No

5) What type of storyline do you prefer out of these?

A) Linear (Chronological/beginning, middle and end)
B) Non-Linear (Pulp fiction, back and forth in time, to do with space)


6) What is your favourite Music video, and why did you like it?
Artist: Song:
Reason:


7) Do you like it when characters speak in the video in relation to the narrative?
Yes / No explain your reasons:


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Results

For the people I surveyed it was a fair mix of 6 males and 7 females, to whom of which are all either 18 or 17.

1) For the first question the most popular genre was Rock followed by Indie. The song for my music video is classed in as Rock however I see it as soft rock.

2) When finding out the various music channels people listen to, it was no surprise that 4MUSIC came out on top. Because of the ages of the people I surveyed and 4MUSIC also broadcast a fair share of rock songs, in relation to the first question.

3) In asking the type of music video they liked, both Narrative and Performance came on top which isn’t surprising since a majority of videos tend to follow this style.

4) I was told from this simple Yes or No question that special effects are important to the audience and to the video to make it stand out.

5) Between linear and non-linear storylines, my audience told me they preferred a linear storyline, which is a logical storyline that it is in chronological order.

6) When asking for their favourite music video and the explanation. The main reasons were that they thought their chosen videos related to the song its self and a good storyline. So in order to make my video attractive I need to relate the story in the video to the song and the lyrics.

7) The question about dialogue gave a mixed response. 7 disliked it and 6 liked the idea so I might chose to consider spoken dialogue in the video, maybe at the end when the music fades out or during an instrumental part.

'This Is The Life' By Craig Devine short film analysis

The start shows a very straight-forward title of 'This is the Life' shown is white on a black screen to give ultimate clarity. Also this could've been done to reflect the film its self as simple and very clear.

The first scene is of a clearly average family in the morning, mom in dressing gown and kids in their school uniforms. It has been shot in such away that we can see all the characters, like an establishing shot that sets the scene very well as we also have a clear view of the layout of the kitchen. Its also at such an angle that it looks like we are actually there in the kitchen sitting next to Deanna, almost like fly-on-the-wall.

After the establishing shot we cut to a close up of the mother's face so we can see her facial expressions and from this we can gather the kind of mood she is in which looks stressed, rushed and can tell us more about their mood.

The sound track to this film enters in towards the end of the scene as a prompt to let the audience know that particular scene is about to end and cut to another sequence. Also known as a 'Sound-Bridge'. The non-diagetic soundtrack continues as we see a montage of rather long shots showing the brother and the sister and their close relationship that they have, as she takes him out in a trolly to probably cheer him up. During this montage of long shot with just them we get an insight to their local area and from this we can findout more about their social class and position, and from the back-drop we gather they are probably from a rough area so we assume they are a working class family. Even the rubbish on a drive way can say a lot about an area.

We get the feeling that the father has been absent for a while and is later confirmed when he talks with his patrol officer that he spent some time in prison. So he has returned and getting back into family life, we even see the family having tea in the lounge which probably isn't a regular occurance it's only as a one-off because of his return. This is done as a low-angle shot.

The dad is struggling to get back into the father-role by being late to pick up his son from school. Shot-reverse-shot is been used to show the characters feelings and facial expressions via the close-ups, Dean looks a bit annoyed and fed-up whilst his father looks sorry and apologetic.

In an attempt to make it up to Dean he lets him drive his car in a car park, at this time we hear the sound-track along with the father egging his son on to drive the car and keep turning the wheel. We see a mini montage of shot reverse shot again of the dad and his son, the moods of them both have changed as Dean is smiling.

The arrival of the father isn't really making the Mother very happy as we see when the dad returns home and doesn't take any notice to any of them.

The father is starting to really build the relationship with his son which seems to be strained whereas the sister Deanna is happy with her dads arrival. Quality time is spent with Dean is a make-believe boxing match between them both and father letting Son win.

The Father clearly wants to make ammends with his children, and genuinely seems like a changed man to what we can imagine he was like before prison. Prison had a positive affect on him making him a better person.

'Johnny Cash - Hurt' Music Video Analysis

For our analysis of a music video as part of research into existing products, we as a class watched a music video of a cover of Hurt by Johnny Cash, which was originally done by Nine Inch Nails in 1994. This was one of Johnny Cash's final hits before his death and was critically acclaimed, given best music video by the Grammy Awards.

The video features images and archive footage from Johnny's life and career, from the House of Cash Museum to a prison where he was once banged up, showing the highs and lows of his life.

The video in its entirety is very grainy almost old fashioned in the way it has been edited to look, even though it was 2002 at the time. This gives it a dark look maybe to signify that Cash himself was in a dark place because of his ever decreasing state of health and that he was in an unstable state emotionally.

The video was shot in his house surrounded by antiques that seem to clutter the place up. These are possibly what Cash has Collected and been given over the years and it gives a sense of the life he once had.

Another shot sees the American flag fluttering with great power and the connotations we get from this is that Cash is a True American, and American icon, important and the he's living the American dream.

As mentioned at the start we are shown the House of Cash Museum. To have a museum totally dedicated to you is a true honour and it's this, that lets you know that you're at the ultimate level of fame. That Cash was at the highest point of popularity you can get.

Archive footage dominates the second half of the video, but little snippets are found near the start but they are irregular, because it's mostly Johnny Cash himself at his house sitting alone. Some of the footage are of films that he has done, personal home videos and shots of him performing on stage. This shows the good times of his career.

Another feature in the video is a picture of his mother on the wall and at the same time the lyrics are sang "Everyone I know, goes away in the end". Which gives us a clear message that people close to him are suddenly disappearing and leaving including his mother years ago that he didn't cope with very well.

We can see from the video of his house, possessions and footage the he is of great wealth and power, however we see him sitting on a thrown at a table full of food all alone not looking very happy, which is evident from him pouring wine all over the food (which incidentally is red wine, which is to signify blood and God). This is a sign that you can have everything but if your alone it's not going to make you happy. After all this song is about reflection and regret of his past life, like when he tampered with drugs and was sent to prison.

Towards the end of the video we are shown a fast montage of everything that was to do with him. It features his performances, parts from 'The Johnny Cash Show' which was his talk show, films, the music video it's self. Also it features shots of Christ dragging his cross and being nailed to it which looks like it's from a separate film entirely.

'TYSON: THE MOVIE' Documentary analysis

In our second Media lesson we watched a diographical documentary about Mike Tyson and his life and career. Told mostly by himself together with archive footage of famous fights, contraversial interviews and personal home videos and pictures.

Before the film opens, we see credits bizarrely done in all random different colours, but it quickly became apparent that this was done deliberatly to demonstrate the randomness of Tyson's life. Dark colours used for obvious reasons, red used also to represent bad and serious times and of course bright colours used to represent the happy times or the highs of his career and life. Like winning the fight that made him champion.

The film opens with the Rocky Balboa soundtrack which is quite fitting as the Rocky films are almost a mirror of Tyson's career of ups and downs and an unlikely boxing coach that gets him too the top.

As with a mojority of films, the film started with an establishing shot taken from past archive footage of a boxing ring warming up for a extremely important and well anticipated, at the time, fight that would make either side world champion. The footage had probably have been edited differently from the origional television live broadcast to give it a even bigger build-up. With the close ups switching from each competitor. As this is occuring the soundtrack is still playing but quietly as to not drown out the diagetic sound of the audience cheering, however this maybe non-diagetic and edited in to add to the build-up, also the comentary from the comentators of the fight at the time. All these elements make this all seem more like an actual movie, rather than actual footage. It's clearly existing footage because of the grainy look and can tell its more than likely footage from sometime in the 80's.

The fight has been edited cleverly to emphasise the big hits and blows the Tyson's apponent endured. The use of split screen has been encorporated to show multiple shots of the fight, and two shots in synergy but giving different angles of the fight. Plenty of freeze frames are used too. And are used at the point of a punch or heavy blow that Tyson gives, and this emphasises the strength and the power that Tyson has.

To give a more deeper meaning to how powerful and dangerous Mike Tyson is, his name is shown at the start of the film in a fire or flame style look to show his firery temperment. The font its self is very pointy and it's very bold with hardly no curves possibly to demonstrate his masculinity.

What we think is non-diagetic sound is Tysons Voice narrating as he give anecdotes of his life in his own words. This is then paired with a visual of him talking in an interview type style, which is a convention of a documentary.

The narration starts to overlap it's self with more of Tyson's stories and this keeps re-occuring. This could've been done to show his thought in his head that they keep whirling around and seem to not make any sense when they overlap together with his slured words that was most probably a result of repetitively being punched in the face for years.

A dark and shadowed close up of Mike Tyson's face seems to represent the dark periods of his life and the mean, scary persona he has created for himself.