Before our narrative shoot it’s vital we plan all our shots we want to achieve at each location. This is to ensure we get a variety of shots, framing, angles and camera movements so we have enough footage to cut between too to overall achieve an interesting, engaging narrative.

For our narrative, we are filming a party with an air hockey scene, pool table, dancing, beer pong and jumping in the pool to overall represent a fun party to reflect our song lyrics making it an illustrative narrative.  To ensure we reflect this fun, wild party we need to make sure we have lots of different shots like hand held shots and pov to create a narrative sense of the audience also being immersed within the party creating a visual dynamic and a connection to the star.

Furthermore, it’s also important to remember you are filming for edit therefore we have to think about any transitions we may use when it comes down for editing so camera movements like whip pans have to be planned so we can successfully create transitions. The media language of camera and editing both work together to represent a story and create meaning so when planning I kept in mind on how I want the party to be represented as well as the star. For example, to reflect the fun nature of the party we needed lots of shots so when it comes to editing we can cut between them making a quick paced edit which connotes a busy, upbeat party.

Now we have planned our shots, we should be ready and prepared to begin filming the narrative which due to having to film in the dark we are limited with time so we had to split between two nights. If we follow this guide we should hopefully have a variety of different shots and enough footage so the party narrative looks exciting. This should help us stay on track as well and prevent us forgetting any important camera movements and shots.

Here is our first draft for our music video.

What Went Well

• Lip sync matches- star knew the words
• Good lighting- looks bright and fun which represents the pop genre so the audience can have a preferred viewing
• The title scene (establishing shot) in the beginning is a good and effective idea using adjustment layers and the text editing tool 
• The mis-en-scene and production design choices are really good and well thought out it signifies (de Saussare) this morning after a party successfully

What Needs to Change

• Sort out the blurriness of the Arial shot
• Fix the text as it isn’t fully white
• Fix the whip pan transition– easily done using a vertical or horizontal flip in effects
• Re film the bbq pov shot as I’m cut out

This is just a rough cut were we mainly aimed to cut to the beat and ensure the lip sync matches the song. We only got footage to fill the first 20 seconds of the song as the rest will be filled with the party narrative and the bedroom scene which we couldn’t film that day. We also had time to play with editing with the text appearing across the screen as the star floats which is a great establishing shot to start of our music video.

Thinking forward, we need to reshoot the ariel shot as we filmed it with the wrong camera setting so it does appear blurry and we also need some more dynamic shots as there isn’t a lot of camera movements or weird shots so the opening does come across quite boring which isn’t the representation we want. Moreover, the media language of editing is so important in representation so we do need to think about adding some transitions and effects in the upcoming drafts just to make the video more interesting and entertaining for the audience. We also need to make sure the fast paced editing of the mess matches to the beat as it looks out of place.

Below are some screenshots of our first shoot as well as some behind the scene photos of the performance, setting up the props, setting and directing the actor.

What did I specifically do?

During this shoot I was also the performer therefore I had less time holding the camera so unable to film the performance, however I filmed majority of the still shots of the mess of the party. We all contributed fairly to setting up the production design working on the mis-en-scene like the setting and props as a team to make sure we worked efficiently. Due to being the performer I was able to direct myself with the acting as I already had a vision of what to achieve- as well as taking orders and suggestions from my team mates overall working collaboratively.

What do I think about the footage?

The footage we captured was good however not enough. Some shots came out fuzzy due to wrong camera settings, we didn’t get a lot of dynamic, interesting shots and camera angles making this section not as exciting which is negative as the pop genre is all about excitement and fun. We could have also done with filming some depth of field shots as we didn’t as well as just our star being natural and not lip syncing– due to this I believe we need to have a re shoot just to get more footage.

Despite this, a positive is the mis-en-scene like the setting and props which I believe communicated efficiently to represent the morning after the party with the deflated balloons, trashed cups, used shot glasses and toilet paper stuck in the tree all of this was carefully planned in order to connote a wild, busy party. The star wakes up holding a cup and her shoe which we constructed to convey to an audience that she had a wild night as well as a sense of confusion and mystery for the audience (enigma code-Barthes)– how did she end up there? One thing though is that I wish we went crazier on the messy hair and makeup as I feel like it could have been further exaggerated to represent this narrative more clearly.

Focusing Forward 

Now that we have completed the first shoot I’m now aware on the amount of footage we need to get in our next shoot coming up which is the party shoot, I will ensure we achieve some better more dynamic shots referring back to our visual shot list to ensure it stays conventional to the genre so the audience get a preferred viewing whilst also experimenting with more unusual quirky shots which fit this wild party narrative. We also need to make sure the lighting is good as it will be a night shoot so we need to avoid grainy footage, and finally unsure we use the correct camera settings. But from our first shoot we have all found a way to work together efficiently- taking each others suggestions and inputs and having good communication which will be beneficial with the next shoots.

Below is my production meeting agenda for my first shoot.

Creating a production meeting agenda is important within the industry as if one of the directors couldn’t make the shoot anyone could look at the PMA and still get the idea of what need to be done. It also is a useful reminder of the props and costumes we needed to bring as well as a reminder of location, dates and times. A PMA overall helps organise the production ensuring everything runs smoothly.

Below is a signed risk assessment for our first shoot of our music video.

It’s important to go through the potential risks and hazards whilst filming to ensure the safety of everyone. So when we come to the production day we are prepared and aware of any dangerous situations that may arise.

Every artist has a star image that is constructed to represent them in a certain way in the eyes of an audience. This representation can be constructed via social media, articles, interviews, tv appearances, music videos ect. Richard Dyer came up with ‘The Paradox of the Star’ claiming a star must be presented as extraordinary yet ordinary, out of reach yet in reach in the mind of an audience. Every music videos purpose is to raise awareness of the artists, promote their music in order to make money however it’s also a perfect opportunity to construct a star image. How your star is presented is vital in the industry as audiences and fans will only engage with the star (like buy their products, go to concert ect) if the are interested in the star. I looked into how the media has represented Katy Perry who is the artist who sang my chosen song and I looked into the meta narrative surrounding her.

Overall, I can see that her meta narrative has represented her star image as extraordinary (Dyer) and crazy with her quirky, unusual costumes like the tin can dress for example. Yet she is also presented as ordinary (Dyer) with her also being seen in sweats and casual clothing creating a sense of relatability to her audience and fans. Moreover, she has been represented as funny and witty as well as kind and charitable constructing an overall positive almost role model, best friend like star image for the audience. It’s important for Katy Perry to keep up this positive, quirky star image with her charitable values as she had brands like her perfume business that fans will only engage and buy if they are kept interested and look up to her.

From this research, I can think about how I want to execute the representation of my star in not only the music video but the digi pack and the social media page as they all work together to construct a star image.

I want my star to be presented as wild, young, confident and fun which is very conventional within the pop genre and will fit the audience demographic of young females which is the same as the artist of our song. To achieve this I have to think carefully about the mis-en-scene like the costumes I have to remember to dress my star in something unusual and fun creating this extraordinary and out of reach (Dyer) star image alongside with exciting hair and bold makeup to represent her confident side. And in order to achieve this wild image, I will be dressing my star to wake up with messy hair and wrecked makeup to illustrate the wild night she had before and direct my actor to dance and act happy and energetic and present her to be the life of the party to construct this wild, fun and youthful star image.

Now thinking forward, now that I have the star image in mind I now need to execute this in different ways with the use of mis-en-scene to the use of editing in post production- in not only the music video but the social media page and digi pack too. So perhaps in order to achieve this ordinary image I would unsure her social media page is filled with lots of relatable, day to day content creating this ordinary, in reach (Dyer) star image to make the audience feel a connection with the star.

This is a video of where we pitched and shared our final ideas to our teacher, aiming to convince her on our narrative, performance and star image. 

6 Positives 

• Access to a good location/setting that fits the narrative and genre
• Confident performer- shouldn’t look awkward
• Have cool props that fit the narrative (pool table, air hockey, juke box)
• Lyrics easy to lip sync, good song choice
• Clear idea on narrative and structure
• Lots of opportunities to get interesting dynamic shots

6 Negatives 

• Costume needs to stand out more to create the extraordinary (Dyer) star image for our star
• Lots of extras, difficult to control and direct them
• The extras may look at the camera breaking the 4th wall
• Dancing and acting may look awkward, cringe and unnatural
• Song is very popular and the video is iconic so individuals already have an image of what the music video looks like- hard to live up to that expectation
• Need to get permission from everyone coming to the party and make sure parents consent and are aware

After pitching to our teacher we came back with lots of positives and negatives that we need to consider before we start filming. I would say our mis-en-scene (apart from the costume which we will improve) is mainly positive and a huge strength for our music video. Our setting is a huge strength and will help our video stand out within a very crowded industry it is vital to stand out and attract and engage an audience. I believe the lighting with the pinks and blues fit the pop genre being bright and fun. Moreover, to keep the video dynamic and engaging for the audience it’s important that we get a variety of shots, angles and camera movements which with our party narrative is highly achievable.

However, some negatives is the amount of people at this party so to overcome this we will be making a group chat as well as running through a list of rules with the extras to unsure we avoid any problems with breaking 4th wall as well as getting all there consent and parents. We were also brought up the problem with using a very popular song with an already iconic video so most of the audience will already have this idea in their head of what the music video looks like so it may be difficult for an audience to disassociate this idea whilst watching ours.

Focusing forward, now we have ultimately decided on our song, narrative and mis-en-scene we can now begin planning out the different shots and star image we want to portray. I’m looking forward to begin the production process now that I have a clear vision of what I want to achieve.

Due to this project being a collaboration with others in my class it’s important that we all communicate and discuss how we will operate as a team so we completed and signed a form to ensure we all work together in an efficient and effective way.

In the contract we discussed each others strengths and weaknesses which also leads to a delegation of jobs and responsibility. For example, my strengths are within tech and performance so I’ll be leading the editing process as well as filming/camera work helping my teammates when needed and overseeing this section of production. Whilst another member of my groups strengths is the creativity side so they will take the main responsibility of the creative side of production. Within the contract we also discussed each others commitment agreeing we all have to contribute an equal and fair amount due to this being worth 25% of our A level.

Now that we have all collectively agreed and signed this contract, the production process should run smoother now we have established our rules and responsibilities. And we now know how and have agreed how we will work through any disagreements within the production.

For copyright reasons it was important for us to request permission from the artist to use her song for educational purposes. I’m aware within the music industry there are many copyright issues as many artists music gets used illegally so we made sure to avoid this issue by messaging Katy Perry on Instagram.