R&P Post 50: Creating Social Media Accounts for our Artist

Hey there and welcome back to another research and planning post! Today we created social media accounts for our artist, with Lesley creating a Twitter account and Sarah creating an Instagram account. 

This is what our Twitter profile looks like:

This is what our Instagram account look like:

 On these social media accounts, we have also followed other artists and other celebrities that our artist relates to and that our audience can connect with. Below you can see images of people that we are following on both the Twitter account and Instagram account:

 From these images you can see how we have followed a range of people- including pop stars, actors and also commercial accounts, with shops such as Topshop and The Body Shop. This demonstrates how we have further connected with our audience through these social media profiles.

So that's what we got up today! We rally learnt the importance of marketing through this task and we feel that we have managed to successfully emphasise the marketing of our artist through these social media profiles. Not only have we posted things on these accounts that advertise our artist and their music as well as showing an element of personality by posting ore personal pictures and tweets, but we have also enhanced this connection with our audience by following other accounts that our audience themselves will most likely follow. This has involved following mainstream artists, actors and shops that represent our audiences' interests.

Come back again soon to here more about how our music video is coming along!

R&P Post 49: Final Day of Filming!

Hiya! We have now officially finished filming for our music video which is very exciting! Today we finished up filming at the Southbank by filming some more performance shots of Kati. We filmed some more at the National Theatre rooftop but we also filmed around different parts of the Southbank. Below you can watch a video of myself talking about how today went:





Here are some photos taken from behind-the-scenes of filming today:

From these images you can see the different places where filmed round the Southbank. For example the photos showing Kati by a yellow bar were filmed on a viewing platform on the Southbank which gives a great view of the Thames, and the picture in the middle row on the far right and the picture in the bottom left-hand corner were filmed in a small tunnel by the National Theatre rooftop.

By filming these extra performance shots today, we now have a wide variety as we have a variety of different outfits, different make-up styles/looks and different locations, which will give us a wide range of performance shots to work with when it comes to editing our music video. Also, by having this wide variety this will make our music video more exciting and interesting for our audience, drawing their attention to our artist and our video.

Thanks for reading and see you soon!

R&P Post 48: Day 4 of Filming!

Hello and welcome back to another behind-the-scenes post! Today we filmed the fourth 'level of our music video which is the 'Mafia' scene. We filmed in Sainsbury's car park in Colliers Wood, pictured below:

We chose to film here as it has a rather grungy aesthetic that relates to the crime theme of our music video. 

Below you can watch a video from behind-the-scenes, with Sarah talking about how he day went overall:



Below you are able to see some photographs taken from behind-the-scenes:

This group of photos show my group filming some more performance shots of Kati. Unfortunately, today our actor Dexter actually tuned up very late to film. So whilst we were waiting for him we decided to make the most of our time and we filmed  some more performance shots of Kati in order to get a range of these shots so we have lots of footage to work with when it comes to editing.

What went well today?
Today was our most challenging day of filming so far because our actor Dexter was very late to arrive on set. This meant that when he finally did arrive we had very little time to film and were very limited because of this. However, when he did arrive we were very efficient with time and we had in mind the exact shots that we wanted to film. This meant that when we were eventually able to film, we were disciplined and knew what we wanted to film.

What could have gone better?
As previously mentioned our actor Dexter was very late, only arriving on set hours later than we had planned. Although this gave us plenty of time to plan the exact shots that we wanted to film, it meant that when he finally did arrive we only had very little time to film, meaning that we were quite rushed when filming. If we had had more time, we would not have had to rush this scene and we could have had more time to film extra shots.

However, we still managed to film this scene and it is now completed, meaning that we have filmed all of the 'levels' of our music video which is great news! Tomorrow we are planning to film some extra performance shots of Kati at the Southbank again but this time we are going to film around the Southbank and not just on the National Theatre rooftop. Today was quite stressful but we were very efficient when we were able to film and we have almost finished filming our music video now!

R&P Post 47: Day 3 of Filming!

Hello and welcome back to another behind-the-scenes post! Yesterday was our third day of filming and we managed to film much of our music video.

So yesterday we went to the National Theatre rooftop to film performance shots including both Kati by herself and Kati with our actor Dexter, who is playing the boy in our music video. After we had finished filming here, we travelled back to Streatham, South London to film the first 'level' of our music video which is the shop robbery scene.

Below you can watch a video showing videos from behind-the-scenes today:



Just below you can also see a collection of photographs showing behind-the-scenes from when we were filming our performance shots yesterday:

In these photos you can see how we used a stabiliser tripod for all of our performance shots. We used this type of tripod because it is relatively easy to use and also means that our performance shots are never static which is what we want. We want to have lots of movement in our performance shots to make them more exciting and interesting for our audience. These photographs also show the different outfits that Kati was wearing. We used three different outfits for these performance shots in order to increase their variety which will keep our audience interested in our music video throughout. Below you can see separate photos showing the different outfits that we used:

The photo on the far left  and the photo in the middle show Kati wearing quite typically feminine outfits, including skirts, high-heeled shoes, a crop top and an off-the-shoulder top. In the photo on the far left you can see how we added more to her outfit, using earrings, a choker necklace and we also put her hair in a high ponytail as a way of experimenting more with her hairstyle, and also as a way of increasing the variety of our performance shots. The picture on the far right shows a very different outfit to the other two. These other two outfits are rather summery and conventionally feminine, whereas the image on the far right shows Kati wearing a sparkly, silver jumpsuit. This jumpsuit gives her a strong 'party look', making her appearance more exciting for our audience. The way in which this outfit connotes themes of partying also relates to our audiences' interests as our audience is predominantly made up of teenagers and a key theme in their lives is partying, demonstrating the marketing side to the use of this particular outfit. In order to enhance this theme of the outfit of the jumpsuit, we also exaggerated her make-up:

In this image you can see how we added sequins to Kati's make-up for this, placing small sequin stars around her right eye. This enhances her 'party look' here, emphasising the connection between this and our target audience.

On the right here you can see the outfit that we used for Dexter, playing the role of the boy in our music video. This is the same outfit that he wears during the fourth 'level' of our music video, during the 'Mafia' scene. We decided to use this outfit because it reminds the audience how he is playing a game, and by wearing the same outfit as he is wearing in part of the game, it emphasises the whole narrative of our music video.














As well as filming performance shots yesterday, we also filmed the first 'level' of our music video which is the shop robbery scene.

Below you are able to see photos of the shop that we used for this scene ('The Wine Leaf' off-license):

As you can see from these images, the shop we used is a conventional local store selling alcohol which was ideal for us and meant that we were effective in filming the shots that we had in mind for this scene.

Here are also a collection of photos taken from behind-the-scenes when we filmed the shop robbery scene:

From these photos you are able to see different types of shots that we filmed, such as over-the-shoulder shots (see bottom left image) and wide shots (see top right image). The picture in the bottom right-hand corner also shows myself holding a light with a purple gel over the top, giving a slight tinge to the person playing the shopkeeper in our music video. This 'shopkeeper' was actually one of our friends' (called Manav) and his family own this off-license and allowed us to film here, and we decided to use Manav because he has much experience of being a real shopkeeper, meaning that he could give a convincing portrayal of this character in our music video.

Overall, me and my group are all very pleased with how yesterday went. We managed to film lots of footage and complete another whole scene, demonstrating how we have become much more time-efficient. We also like the performance shots we filmed but we have decided that we are going to film more on Thursday around the Southbank as a whole area. This is because although we succeeded in increasing the variety of performance shots through a variety of different make-up, outfits and shot types, they are all in one location and we want to have different locations for our performance shots as well. However, before we go to film these on Thursday, tomorrow we are planning to film the fourth 'level' of our music video which is the 'Mafia' scene.

Come back again tomorrow to find out how it all went! See you soon!

R&P Post 46: Second Day of Filming!

Hiya and welcome back! Today we had another day of filming where we filmed the second and third 'levels' of our music video.

So today we filmed the scene showing the couple breaking into a house and for this we used Destinie's house, mainly just showing her living room which is pictured below:

For this scene we filmed the couple picking the lock to the house and then walking in through the hallway, then into the living room which you can see on the left. After they take some random items they hear a noise in the house, leading them to rush out.






After we filmed this scene we then filmed the third level of our music video which is the scene where the couple encounter a mob of people who then attack them and the boy is beaten up badly and ends up on the ground. Unfortunately for this scene we were not able to find any people who were available to play the mob/gang who beat the couple up so myself and Lesley dressed up in all  black clothing with hoodies to play these characters. Although this was a little tricky at first, we soon got into it and overall this scene managed to go fairly smoothly.

Below you can watch the second video of our filming video diary from behind-the-scenes:

On the left and just below you can see two photographs taken from behind-the-scenes. To the left you can see a photo showing Destinie doing Kati's make-up for the house break-in scene. 

On the right here you see a picture showing Destinie directing our actors for what they need to do during a part of the house break-in scene. 






Overall today was a successful day. We managed to complete the filming of two scenes and we were more efficient with our time than yesterday as well. From yesterday one of the main things that we learnt was that we need to be more time-efficient so today we decided to meet earlier so we could begin filming earlier and this meant that we had enough time to complete the filming of both of these scenes. As well as this, before we all arrived at Destinie's house to film today we had planned as a group that we would all individually note down different types of shots that we wanted to film. This meant that we had a wide range of shot ideas and could merge them together on set, and also meant that we have plenty of shots for these scenes which will be useful when it comes to editing our music video as we will have more footage to work with. 

Tomorrow we are planning to film our first performance shots at the rooftop at the National Theatre and after this we are going to Streatham, South-West London, to film the first 'level' of our music video showing the shop robbery scene so tomorrow will be an especially busy and exciting day!

R&P Post 45: Day 1 of Filming!

Hey there and welcome to an especially exciting post! Today we had our first day of filming and below you can read about how it all went!

Today we filmed shots of the boy playing the VR game at my house where we used my bedroom to create his own bedroom. We also used a spare room in my house to film shots of the couple celebrating their victory of stealing the 'Mafia' peoples' money. After using my house we filmed just outside

2 West Drive, London, SW16 1RP as part of the house robbery scene and we also filmed around Stretham in South-West London for the taxi scene.

We have also now started a 'filming diary' discussing what we managed to do during the day and how it all went. Just below you can watch a video of myself talking about how our first day of filming went:


Below you can also see some photographs taken from behind-the-scenes from this first day of filming:

From these pictures you can see the different types of lighting we used. For this lighitng we used soft box lights with red and blue gels used over the top to make these shots more interesting for our audience. In the image in the bottom left-hand corner you can also see one way in which we had to improvise in order to improve the lighting of the shots showing the couple in a 'hotel room' (celebrating their stolen money). For these shots we used a spare room in my house but the windows in this room only had curtains and no blinds and because we were filming during the afternoon, the outside daylight was very visible, making the artificial red and blue lighting barely visible in the shot. So we found some black suit holders which we hung at the top of the window and then Lesley (in the picture) was responsible for holding the curtains tightly together and this proved to work well. 

Overall today went well because we managed to film two whole scenes and parts of two other scenes but we have also realised that we do need to be more time-efficient on set as we did not get round to filming the shop robbery scene as we hoped. 

Come back again soon to hear more about how our filming is going!

R&P Post 44: Update on our Music Video Plans!

Hey there! Today we had a group meeting to discuss our plans for filming.

In this meeting we made our plans for filming more organised by confirming what days we are actually going to film on and what exactly we need to bring for these certain days, including different camera equipment, props and clothes and make-up (for Kati). We each made a list of the different things that we need to bring for specific days of filming as well. As well as confirming what days we are going to use for filming and what to bring for these days, we confirmed what locations we are going to use. Once we decided on locations, and we knew when we were going to film, we decided which scenes we are going to shoot on which days.

So after we confirmed these plans, we created a timetable for filming which we are going to send onto our actors so they know when and where we are planning to film. You can see this timetable just below:



So now we have organised ourselves and we know when we are going to film, where and what we need for each day of filming we are set to go!

Come back again soon to find out about how it all went!

R&P Post 43: Digipak and Website Photoshoot!

Hiya! In this post I will be talking about what happened at our photoshoot yesterday when we did a photoshoot for our digipak and website and a photoshoot for our actor playing the boy's role, Dexter, as part of his free photoshoot that we have offered our actors instead of payment.

This photoshoot took place at Cambewell Studios and we did various different studio shots of our actors. We also got them to sign release forms, pictures of which you can see just below:

We had to get our actors to sign these talent consent and release forms as a legal requirement as part of making a music video. These forms are documents that gives the filmmaker (my group in this circumstance) permission to distribute the film (which will be in the form of a music video) with the permission of the talent used in it. So now our actors have officially given us their consent for us to use their talent in our music video we can start filming as soon as possible.

For Dexter, we just used his own clothes and did various different shots for him as part of his free photoshoot. However, for Kati we used a range of different make-up looks and a range of different outfits. These are the different outfits that we used:

The outfit of the black and white crop top and the denim skirt and the outfit of the sparkly silver jumpsuit are outfits that we used for our digipak/website. The more ordinary outfit of the crop top and skirt will enable our audience to connect more with our artist because much of our audience wear these types of fashion styles. We also used a choker necklace for this outfit which is also very much a part of current fashion trends and styles, further enhancing our audience's interest in our artist. The other outfit we used for our digipak/website is the sparkly silver jumpsuit. This is a much more exciting and party-like outfit which will attract our audience as since the majority will be teenagers, the aspect of 'partying' will strongly appeal to them.

The outfit of the black and white crop top, the black jeans and the leather jacket was used for a poster that we are making for our actual music video. For the end of our music video when it is revealed that the boy has simply just been playing a video game, we are going to show him in his bedroom taking the VR headset off and then zoom into a poster on his wall behind him. This poster will be advertising the video game and will show Kati on the poster as a symbol of the game. We chose to use this outfit of black jeans, a crop top and a leather jacket because it portrays Kati here as a more authoritative figure which is the aesthetic that we want for our poster because it shows how she essentially takes control of the boy's life in our music video. Whilst leather jacket, black jeans and also high-heeled boots strongly connote themes of power, the crop top is slightly revealing which means that she still has a strong element of femininity to her appearance.

Behind-the-scenes at the Photoshoot:

Below you can watch a video showing footage from behind-the-scenes:


Below you can see a collection of pictures from behind-the-scenes at our photoshoot:

Above you can see images showing Destinie taking photographs of Kati (playing the role of our artist) in different outfits. In these images you can also see the type of lighting we used. For this photoshoot we used soft box lights with blue and red gel to give the lighting more colour and to make it more interesting. These colours mix together to give purple and pink tones and all of these colours are colours which will be strongly associated with our artist and for both our digipak and website, we are going to have these types of colours to emphasise the marketing of our artist and to make our audience associate these colours with this particular music artist. 

Overall yesterday was a very successful day and went very smoothly. We all met our actors who have now signed their release forms which means we can officially begin filming which is great! We have also taken photos of Dexter as part of his free photoshoot and have taken several photographs of Kati in different outfits which we are planning to use for our digipak and website.

Come back again soon to hear more about our filming plans!

R&P Post 42: Analysing Music Videos Related to our Song and Artist

Hey there! In this post I will be analysing different music videos that relate to our own artist and song to help my group gain inspiration for our own music video. Enjoy!

One music video that really relates to our ideas for our own music video is 'Every Kind Of Way' by H.E.R:



This video follows the romantic relationship between a couple and shows them doing simple, fun things together. They are showed lying in bed together, cuddling, walking with each other, on a rooftop together, playing bowling together and more. Although these are all rather simplistic things, the various different shots and range of lighting is what attracts the audience to this music video because these are the features that make it more interesting.

Below you can see a collection of images showing different shots of the couple having fun together:

These different shots show very simple moments but the use of varied angles, including several close-ups and point-of-view shots, and different lighting makes it a much more interesting video to watch. The use of point-of-view shots emphasises the intimacy shared between the couple and this is also reinforced by the use of close-ups. Since the narrative of this music video is very similar to our own (as our narrative is centred around the romantic relationship of a couple), this tells us that in order to successfully portray the narrative of our music video, by using close-ups and also perhaps experimenting with point-of-view shots, this is partially how we would be able to do this, providing us with inspiration and ideas for different shots that we could include within our music video.

Below you can see a clip showing a certain section of the music video which shows the couple messing around and having fun together:



In these shots, there is a wide variety of lighting, with blue, pink, yellow, orange and pink tones used. The use of blurred multi-coloured lights in the background of mid close-up shots and close-up shots gives a depth of field to the shots which makes them more intimate, representing the intimacy of the couple.

On the left you can see screenshots taken from this music video. It is shots like these (taken in what seems to be a casino-type place) that makes this music video so interesting. This is due to the range of lighting used, with the neon blues and pinks attracting the audience into watching the music video. What this tells me and my group is that lighting plays a key role in filming and in music videos, by using different coloured-lighting, it makes it a much more interesting for the audience to watch. Thus, we should try and experiment with lighting when filming to make our music video more interesting and unique for our audience.











Another music video that is useful for inspiration for our own music video plans and ideas is 'Lonely Together', featuring Rita Ora, by Avicii:


This music video is centred around the romantic relationship between a couple, which is extremely similar to our own music video. During this video, everyone else is frozen in time whilst the couple themselves appear to be the only ones who are actually moving in time. They explore the world together as it is, frozen in time with people stock-still and mess around with one another, having fun.








Above you can see three different clips taken from the music video that show key parts of the music video that show the couple having fun, being silly with each other and doing conventional romantic things, such as kissing, holding hands and hugging. During these three parts of the music video, the relationship between the couple is really strongly portrayed through the things that they do together, including the more intimate side to their relationship but also the more general side of just having fun together. The scene where they cover each other in paint and then begin to kiss and cuddle each other especially attracts the audience because while it shows the couple as fun and reckless, it also portrays them as intimate and loving towards one another which is the key combination for a narrative like this.What this tells us is that for music video, in order to actively engage our audience within our video we will have to convincingly portray the relationship between our couple. One way in which we can do this is by including exciting shots of the couple enjoying their time with on another and having fun, for instance in the music video for 'Lonely Together', the couple run around and discover new things together which makes it an exciting music video. In our music video, we could include this alongside more intimate shots showing the couple holding hands, hugging and perhaps kissing.

Another interesting feature of this music video is its use of point-of-view shots:

The use of point of view shots is very similar to the music video for 'Every Kind Of Way' by H.E.R which I analysed above. From this research, what I have found that is that point-of-view shots appear to be a convention of music videos with a romantic narrative that is focused upon the relationship between a couple. Also, both in 'Every Kind Of Way' and 'Lonely Together', the point-of-view shots always show the girl leading the boy in front (if it is a heterosexual relationship), which tells me and my group that if we plan to use any point-of-view shots in our music video, in order to show how we have used conventions, we should place the girl in front. However, if we chose to subvert this convention we could show the boy in front rather than the girl. 

Overall, what I have learnt from this research is that in order to engage our audience within our music video, we will need to create an exciting yet also intimate narrative to the story between our couple. We will need to show them having fun together, providing the excitement for our audience, but also show them being intimate with each other, e.g. holding hands, kissing, cuddling, etc., to give our audience another side to our characters and the narrative of our music video. 

Thank you for reading and come back again soon!

R&P Post 41: Update on Locations!

Hey! Welcome back!


After me and my group decided that we were definitely not going to use the car park in Golden Lane Estate, we thought about using the Sainsbury's and M&S car park in Colliers Wood (1 Merton High St, London SW19 1BY). However, before we made a firm decision to definitely use this car park we wanted to look around it in person beforehand. So I told my group that I would be available this weekend to go and check it out and that is what I did today. I took several pictures for my group to see what this car park actually looks like and also took some videos:

After I sent these to our WhatsApp group chat my group agreed that this location would be suitable for the fourth level of our music video so we have now decided that we are definitely going to use this location for this part of our music video.

So we now know exactly where we are going to film our music video. We have confirmed the locations of where we are going to film performance shots and we have also confirmed where we are going to film the different 'levels' of our music video. So we are now set to start filming which is very exciting news! Come back again soon to find out more!

R&P Post 40: Update on Props!

Hiya! Welcome to an post updating you on what we plan to do for props in our music video!

One of the main props needed for our music video is a virtual reality (VR) headset. We have now ordered one of these on Amazon:

We decided to use buy this headset in the end because it was relatively cheap and also has a simply but stylish look. Although we had previously found a cheaper VR headset (which you can see in my 'Prop Research' post) we did not like its aesthetic and the others were slightly too expensive. So we widened our search on Amazon and found this one which we all liked. Now we just have to wait for it to be delivered! 

We have also bought a stack of fake dollars that we are going to use for the fourth 'level' of our music video (during the 'Mafia' scene):

This is one of the stacks of money that we found beforehand when we first began researching what props we are going to use. We have now bought this double-sided stack of $50 bills because it was relatively cheap and has a realistic aesthetic. 

Another set of props that is also very important for our music video is fake guns. We had been looking in local shops for these but the ones we found were not very realistic at all (you can see pictures of these in my 'Prop Research' post). However, the actor we have now chosen to play the boy in our music video, Dexter, has told us that he has BB guns that we could use. Here is what they look like:

We have now decided that we are going to use these because they look very realistic and would significantly improve the aesthetic of our music video and would add to the affect of the scene that they will be used for (the first 'level' of our music video when the couple rob the shop).     

Another important prop that we will be using in our music video is a duffle bag and below you can see a photo one of the duffle bags that we are going to be using:

We will be using duffle bags for the fourth 'level' of our music video during the 'Mafia' scene when the couple trick the 'Mafia' lady into taking the wrong bag and the couple themselves run off with the money instead. We are going to use duffle bags to store the fake money inside because they are a conventional prop used for money robbery scenes, especially in films. This means that we will be able to clearly convey what is happening in this scene to our audience without having to place too much focus on it. 

So there we have all of the props we are going to use in our music video! Now we have confirmed exactly what props we are going to use we are becoming more and more ready to actually film. We just have to wait for two of our props (the VR headset and the fake money) to be delivered but once both of these have been delivered we will have all the props we need. 

Come back again soon to hear more about all our plans!

R&P Post 39: Interviewing our Applicants for the Girl's Role

Hey there! We have now received replies from people applying for the girl's role in our music video and they have sent us their videos of them lip syncing to our song.

Today we interviewed the people who applied for the girl's role in our music video. We decided to interview everyone who applied because we wanted to look at a range of people before we made a firm decision. We really liked several of our applicants as the majority were friendly and also enthusiastic about our ideas behind our music video which was nice to hear. Below you can see a picture showing the questions that we asked them:

The main questions that we wanted to ask our interviewees was what experience they have in the performing arts and  what their availability was like during the week beginning the 23rd of October (as this is when we plan to shoot the vast majority of our music video) as well as during the weekends (when we are not at school and are able to film). We also wanted to ask them how easy it is for them to travel around London and to South London as this is where we will be filming and it is important that our actors can find and access different locations easily. One last question that was also very important for us to ask our applicants was what kind of clothes they have and if we would be able to use them for our music video. We will need to use many of their clothes and potentially some of our own clothes because we do not have much money to spend at all and are very tight in terms of money. So it will be very helpful for us if our applicants have suitable clothes that they would not mind us borrowing.

During these interviews we also made notes on our different interviewees. You can see some of these just below:

After we had interviewed all of our applicants, we looked over these notes to remind orselves of their pros and cons. We especially liked Mariana Elicetche, Katy'Rose, Chloe Drowley and Kati Mocho because they were all very friendly and enthusiastic about our music video. Although we did interview Tiffany Dolce and Sonera Angel, we have decided that we are not going to give them the part because when they sent their lip syncing videos to us we felt that they did not give a convincing enough performance of our song and did not match our artist. Whilst we thought Katy'Rose was very friendly, we felt that her physical appearance did not match our artist so we have also made a decision that we are not going to give this role to her either. So when we made these decisions this left us with our final three: Mariana Elicetche, Chloe Drowley and Kati Mocho. We really liked both Mariana and Chloe but they only had limited availability for when we want to film so we have decided that we are going to give Kati Mocho the part. We really like Kati as she is very friendly, enthusiastic and also really suits our song and our artist. Below you can watch a video of us discussing our thoughts on our applicants:

So we have officially made a decision on who is going to play the girl in our music video! This means that we can now get on with actual filming because we now have people to play both the girl and the boy in our music video! Tomorrow Destinie and Sarah (unfortunately myself and Lesley are unavailable tomorrow) are going to meet Kati tomorrow to talk to her about our plans for our music video and to meet her in person. Then on Sunday we have also arranged to have a photoshoot with them both, one for Dexter as part of his free photoshoot that we have offered in replacement of payment and one for Kati for our digipak and website. 

Come back again soon to find out how the photoshoot went!