BW: Progress 29.11.2011

 In today's lesson, we have continued the editing process. I edited during periods 4 & 5, and also stayed for a couple of hours after school. Now that we have a complete timeline, we have started working on 'fine tuning' the project. This allows us the make sure that the cutting rate is as fast as we want it to be, as well as making editing decisions that are more subtle - such as cutting to the beat of the music.

Some of the editing which we have completed today included the split screen effect (as seen to the right). This is because we were unhappy with the background of the water pouring shot, so have chose to split screen it with a shot of Harri Mulley drinking a normal drink in his kitchen. Furthermore, we have included more fast paced cutting between the two narrative lines, such as the cuts between the band peformance and the close up shot of the clown eye, as seen above.

The other thing that I have started today is the colour correction. I have split this into three sections, band performance, the normal narrative and then the studio narrative. For the band performance, I have slightly increased the contrast, but the main alteration is the increasing the level of black, which gives the band performance a darker, more authentic feel. Furthermore, I have increased the contrast and decreased the brightness in the studio shots. I have not yet started colour correction on the outdoor footage, as this is the main job for tomorrow.

In what ways is our video and printwork rich in connotation?

Visual Signifiers

Our video's main aim was to promote a band image that both had an essence of conformity and provided an alternative viewpoint on indie videos and the indie youth subculture as a whole. We've taken this initial brief into account when thinking through individual shots and their connotations.

To give us an overview of how these signifiers are implemented into today's indie videos, we looked at videos by similar artists in the genre. What we found was an overwhelming attitude of light-heartedness and blithe cheerfulness coupled with a retro or take on visual design that led to simplistic visuals with a

Here are a few examples of shots that we feel are rich in connotation.

• The second-narrative shots. All of the non-narrative, non-performance shots are representing different aspects of Harri's rebellious side. His eating of the onion acts as a revolting spectacle and a rejection of the social norm - the burning of the paper is symbolic of rebellion and revolt.
• The band performance. The location and mise-en-scene of each shot involving band performance was heavily laden with connotation, including the peeling/old garages in the background, connoting the maturity/mental age of the performers, rejecting the view of teenagers as immature.

Promoting or rejecting social myths?

As an overview, I believe that our video is rejecting the myth that all indie music is throwaway and cheerful - we've added an undercurrent of seriousness with a colourful fun-poking overtone (which fits the genre).

Our representation of teenagers is also rejecting certain social myths - teenagers in film are usually portrayed as hormonal, childish and angsty. In the main narrative, our teenager (Harri) is represented as being content, mature (to a point) and in control. There is no representation of common themes in teenage films e.g. arguments with parents/girlfriends. This attempt to show an undramatised segment of teenage life is a concious choice on our parts, as we felt that the media representation of teenagers is too biased towards the rarely-surfacing rebellious/dramatic side.

We've conformed to a number of social myths relating to the indie subculture, including the clothes and camera styles. However, we have rejected most of the serious side of indie videos, with bright colours, cheerful concepts and day-to-day locations (in the main narrative).

BW: Progress 28.11.2011

Today was a day which was all about editing, and probably reflected the upcoming week. I started editing with Chris in period 3, where we uploaded and imported the footage from both cameras from the band performance that we shot on Saturday. We started reviewing this footage, and edited it in the 30 second gap that we had left to add in the band performance.

In the Media Studies lesson 4th period, we continued editing, with Chris and I both taking it in turns to control the actual editing and the other advising and pointing out what needed to be done. In the second half of the lesson, I worked on my advert, which is a photograph from Saturdays shoot with details of the new album written on it.

After school, I stayed with Chris for two and a half hours continuing the editing process. Now that we have a large amount of band performance footage that we are happy with, we have been able to remove some of the shots that we were less pleased with, and only include the very best shots in the video. We now have a full timeline, but there are areas that still need working on, and some of the video still hasn't been completely synced, so improving on these areas is tomorrows task.

How Are You Representing Your Artist Across Your Promotional Material?

Before we started planning the video for the song, we had a group discussion and decided that we felt that the 'indie' image of Two Door Cinema Club was very important to maintain throughout the creative process.

The theorist Richard Dyer stated that a true star should be ordinary and extraordinary, so that the audience always wanted more and to 'complete' the artist. In our video, we have pushed to fulfil this convention, as an entire narrative revolves around the lead singer being ordinary - walking through a sub-urban town on an autumn day, a situation that the audience could relate to. However, there is a second narrative in which the main singer is extraordinary, with meal-worms on his face, eating onions, pouring water over himself and wearing eye makeup. 

This theme of the ordinary 'boy next door' was important for us to maintain across all of our promotional material. For instance, the advert that Ben has created is a simple image of the band's instruments on the floor outside a garage area, which connotes a sense of low-fi, indie band approach which we are trying to create in the meta-narrative. Furthermore, in Chris' digipak, images of the entire band are used, to explore each band member individually, showing that although Harrison Mulley is the lead singer, the other band members are important, to convey a sense of friendship within the band despite a clear lead singer.

Overall, we have tried to represent our artist as being very normal, and down to earth as is traditional with the representing indie bands such as 'Two Door Cinema Club'. However, we also felt that it was important to show an extra-ordinary side to the artist, and have achieved this through the Music Video where we have alternate shots with unusual ideas.

Evaluation and reflection of shoot 26.1.11

Saturday was a success for more than one reason, with the help of good weather, everyone arriving on time and our being able to get a lot done in a short space of time, meaning that we now have far more good quality footage to play with.

In terms of cast, we had Harrison Mulley on vocals and guitar, Matthew Passmore on bass, Dominic Ford on drums and Chris also on guitar.

We all arrived at the location, which is a minute's walk from my house (which we used as a meeting place beforehand) at 12:30 and set up the drumkit, amp, microphones and camera equipment. We were then able to film and photograph right through to about 4 in the afternoon. Overall, we filmed about half an hour's worth of footage, with the bulk of the filming being band shooting and instrumental closeups. 

For the purpose of the shoot, Ben was the only cameraman for the whole band shots as Chris was involved with the band performance. However, Chris was able to help out with the individual shots and any closeups that he wasn't performing in. In terms of work distribution, Ben was responsible for the setting up of kit and organising the performers, whilst Chris took on the role of producer for the day's shooting and provided creative input and shot ideas.

Due to the nature of the shoot (we weren't sure what sort of weather we'd have or what kit we'd be able to use, most of the shots were spontaneous decisions by either Chris or Ben. We're of the opinion that for something as changeable or performance-based as band filming, this spontaneity is necessary in order to produce a realistic-looking and gritty band performance. In terms of the various shots we achieved, our mainstay - filming-wise - was a single shot of the band performing the whole song. Throughout this, the camera was being moved using the tracking dolly in various directions. On top of this main shot, we filmed each individual band member playing on their own, and did some slow-motion shots of Dom playing drums.

As well as filming, we managed to get some good band pictures for use in our printwork (some of which you can view in the post below). Again, Ben took on any photography involving Chris and Chris was then able to do any individual shots/album cover shots. We're very happy with the outcome of these, and are pleased with the band image we're able to promote through them. 

There aren't really any complaints about the day. Each member of the cast performed impeccably -  everyone was focused, patient and hard-working for the entire shoot. The weather ended up setting a great mood for each shot, and the light lasted just long enough for us to fit everything in. A fitting last shoot for a very enjoyable production.

Photos from shoot 26.11.11