Video and evaluation.

Audience feedback: We uploaded our music video onto Youtube and put a link onto Facebook. Here are two screen shots from the page of comments people have made:

The Facebook comments are all praise which is really good but I felt that it was not in depth enough and didn't give anything constructive, so I have filmed a friend's reaction to the video. She fits in the audience criteria and already listens to Florence and the Machine's music. It was improvised and her words are her own I just asked her to comment on specific things before I filmed her. From this feedback I learned how important the use of different camera angles are. Also the way they fit with the music and and lyrics. On hearing this I felt that we could have perhaps done even more unusual low/high angle or short, quick shots. But the ones we did do work really well. Location also appears to play a great part in how the video comes together, as Ellen says she thinks it was good you could see the sea in the background as "the theme of the music video is swimming so it's very relevant". This simple and obvious location turned out to be quite effective to our audience. She said that the lip syncing wasn't always in time with the music, I agree. If I could do this again I would have less parts of her mouthing the words because in editing this was the most time consuming thing. Instead or next time I would like to spend more time on putting in special effects such as brightening certain parts or putting in blurs.

I think that our video/media product follows the conventions of real media products today. Although I can't think of any music videos which has a storyline that feature the transition from the woods to the sea, it does follow a basic storyline that relates to the lyrics and music. Many music videos do this, having a beginning, middle and an end, if it was performed directed and edited by professionals our storyline would not look out of place today. Although it is a very different song with a very different audience this music video by Mariah Carey has a storyline to it too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b8erWuBA44 this has had 36,610,483 hits on youtube alone so it is very popular. The ending of our music video is quite a cliche: that she wakes up and it's all a dream, but because it is ambiguous, it is not very clear it is a dream, it works with the genre. Something that challenges the usual conventions of this media product is that we filmed in quite natural, alternative locations where anyone could go, I think that our target audience would be able to relate to this. The fact we used longer shots, for example when she walks along the path towards the sea, is quite unusual for a music video. Similarly in Feist's music video, which I analysed, it is all filmed in one shot. Because our target audience is not seen as mainstream, this unconventional way of filming could interest them. As we used only one person in our video it is quite different from most mainstream videos today. I like just having the one person as all the attention is focused on her as she is the singer.

I think that the combination of all my media products together works well, there is a theme throughout. For example the book appears in all three products; at the beginning and the end of the video, on my advert and on the back and middle panel of my digipack. My intentions were to use the same person in all three but because the first girl dropped out and I had already done my front panel of the digipack, a different person is used. Considering this I think that it does tie in well as no one who I have showed has noticed she is different as they look similar. I have tried to include photos which relate to the video within my digipack and advert so that the audience will make a link between all three and recognise the band just from the photos. I perhaps could have had one more beach themed photo in my digipack though as the majority are set in the woods. I wanted some photos I took to look like stills of the video so in between filming certain parts I took a photo of our actress so our audience will see the video and relate it to the advert or digipack they have already seen.

One of the main media technologies we used for the construction of our video was final cut pro which enables you to cut and edit your footage in many different ways on the mac laptops at college during the editing process. We firstly (after capturing back the footage onto the laptop) got each of our shots into the right place on the time-line by cutting and dragging each shot. I think that this was probably the hardest part as we had to get each cut on the right beat to the music. But getting the lip syncing in time of the music was quite time consuming. I felt that I may have done most of this part especially towards the end, but we both played a big part in editing over all. To make each transition of cuts flow from one to the other we added fades. We mainly used fades to black as this seemed most effective. But at 1.35 minutes the background is very bright so we felt it necessary to put in a fade to white, I think that this also gave it a dream like effect which tied into our storyline. At the beginning I thought up the idea of having the faster shots, I think that it works really well as a way to set the scene as short establishing shots but in a secretive way as they are all extreme close-ups. The fast shots at the end which are two shots per second and last for nine seconds are very important to the look and the storyline of the whole video as the suggest that it was a dream or a story. To achieve this we cut one shot that would go with the music and then each shot after it ( going backwards in the storyline) we put on top of the first so it was in line and cut it to the same length. This was an effective and fast way of cutting our shots, instead of just working out the correct timings for each. There is a very high angle shot at the end so that we can see our actresse's facial expression when she wakes up we did this by bringing the tripod over her body so it could look strait down on her. The other high angle shot we used was towards the beginning of the video as a medium close-up but it was only slightly looking down on her.

Both Courtney and I shared the roles of directing and camera work but I did more camera work and Courtney did mor directing. I was filming for all of the shots we used during the beach scene but I found this quite hard as it was very windy and at points i could feel the camera wavering slightly.

Techniques: I have learned a number of different techniques during the filming process of this task. We have all learned to use the cameras and some of the settings on them in lesson we were taught how to make a narrow depth of field, this is when there is the main subject is in focus but the background is not. For example I used a narrow depth of field for my front panel of the digipack. To achieve the narrow depth of field you must set the manual settings on the camera. The shutter speed should be 1 over 50, the aperture set to 1.8 or to make the shot darker you can lower the aperture. Then to set up the shot a clapper board is ofter helpful to use if you want to know what number shot it is. We felt that we did not need to use one as we knew instantly which shot was which just from going back to look at the storyboards. I used a tripod as the camera needs to be still so that it doesn't move and adjust slightly. I filmed with depth of field successfully when filming our music video, for example 45 seconds into it there is a close up of her face which is in focus but the leaves behind her are slightly blurred and out of focus. This puts all the attention onto our singer to make a more interesting and dramatic effect.

I used different media technologies for aspects of the research and planning too such as; various websites featuring demographic tables and genre information (e.g. Wikipedia, IPCmedia.com and Florence and the machine's own band website), Youtube to watch other singer's music video's to gain knowledge of the conventions for our chosen genre and for ideas and research for our own video, Google images for pictures of locations and mise-en-scene, powerpoint to put our plans into process, my own drawings and scanner for mind maps, story boards and flat-plans, cameras to take our own photographs of the process and settings, the use of an animatic as a digital storyboard.

I have gained many skills during this task as stated above; using the camera and Final cut pro alongside various other media technologies. But I have also gained experience to working in a group and communicating which I have found very valuable as I did find it hard. There were some set backs such as the weather and one group member dropping out. But I feel we have both coped well under the circumstances.

Of course we filmed far more footage than we actually used so here is one outtake that we did not use: at the beginning of this clip it shows the end of another clip, but we cut this last of the clip out but used the rest. This is because we film more each time than we needed just in case we need a bit extra at the front or back to go in time. So that there are no gaps when we edit. Then the next clip we did not use as she looks quite awkward in the shot.

Print based advert.

As part of our media digipacks for our selected artists, we must design and complete a print based advert which would be seen in a magazine for example. Our blog must include the analysis of two current adverts which relate to the genre of our band/artist. It must also include three flat plans for our ads to show our different ideas. Then there must be our completed adverts with an analysis.

I have decided to use an ad from Laura Marling, her music genre is slightly different to Florence's , on Wikipedia it is described as "Alternative/Folk Rock". Although Florence's music is less folk like it is still seen as alternative and rock. I really like this advert as it reflects the creativity of the singer herself and it's a connotation of the alternative genre as it is an unusual picture. The script at the bottom of the page is the same used on the cover of her EPs and album. This enables her audience to recognise it immediately even if there is no photo of the singer herself. I think that I will definitely do the same. The background colour is a cream/ off white, this is slightly different to the usual white or black background. The image is also not black, it has a slight green tint, this (the difference to conventional colouring) all could signify the alternative theme to her music. The image is the same that is used on her album cover as is the font. All of the script is orange which makes it stand out and then the orange flower stands out too. It says that they "both contain brand new tracks" which will encourage the target audience to buy it as they are curious to what these tracks are.


This is one of Regina Spektor's print based adverts, promoting a new album. Her genre is similar to Florence and the machine's, it is described as pop/rock, anti-folk. the ad is far more simple than the first with less information on it. This one features a photograph of the singer, its main colours; black and white which add to the simplicity. The pitch black background is followed through with her black top too. This gives a theme to the photo, it also makes it look more professional. She wears red lipstick which she is usually seen in, connotation of this is that it is a classic look. Her black and white skirt covers most of the picture but because Regina herself is one of the only colours seen, it immediately draws the eye to her face. The camera is in a high angle shot looking down on her so that you can see the full width of her skirt. The script used at the top is in the same font but at the bottom it is in a different font. This is because the latter is iTune's trademark font, as if it was a label. "Regina Spector" is coloured yellow so that it will stand out among the other writing. Although it says she has a new album, it does not give the name. This could suggest that she is already so well established that she doesn't need to feature the album title, as people will already know what it is called. It says that it has bonus tracks, this will get people interested and want to find out what they are.



I have drawn 3 flat plans of what I would like my print based ad to look like:

This one is in A4 form, this would be good for a conventional magazine. I decided to make the band name pull focus and will use the same script as I have on the Digipack so that people immediately know who it is at a glance. I will use a photograph which connects to the music video and alter it for example by brightening the colours so that it stands out. I put "Swimming" as the same script for all three flatplans too also so that it is more recognisable. I have put the other writing in a more clear bold font so that it is seperated from the rest, doesn't follow the brand, but it still is eye-catching.







For my second, i have turned it round and have a close-up of her face, so that is more the focus. So people will recognise the singer and the title of the song rather than the band name as they are the two things that pull focus. The right side has a white background but the photograph's background is the natural environment she is in so I will blur the photo to white so that the writing can be clearly be seen.





With this one I have put a bordered photo on a white background, this is so that the picture is the first thing you see. It also keeps the writing very separate. I give a bit more information here giving the release date of the single and music video. the border also emphasises the picture which is like a still from the video itself. The title is displayed twice once on the book as well as written.












Here is a copy of my finished print based advert:

I took this photo which is similar to a scene in the video and altered it in Photoshop. I wanted the writing to be legible and clear so I made a duplicate layer and brightened it, then I cut two squares so that you could see the bottom, brighter layer. I changed the brightness and contrast to give the photo a dreamlike look. I also put a white blur in each corner to add to the eerie look. I then uploaded it into Adobe Indesign and wrote in the script, I used the same writing for the band name and the song title as I did for my digipack but to seperate the information on the bottom I used a different font called "imprint MT shadow" I put a pink background beneath it to make it stand out. this colour also ties in with the rest of the writing. I like the look of this advert as a whole I think that it reflects Florences style and will appeal to the target audience as feminine colours are used and alternative effects are put in. As it is similar to parts in the music video people will reconise it.


I learnt many skills by making this advert, the majority were self-taught on Photoshop as I have explained above and I also got help on it in Adobe Indesign. At first I did the bottom script without the box and in the same pink colour and style as "Swimming" it wasn't legible or clear so I asked my teacher for advice and she helped me put the pink box behind the writing so that it stands out. Without it I don't think it would look like a completed advert.

I think that my media product both challenges and follows forms of conventions of the real media products in my chosen genre. Firstly many adds chose to have a photograph of their singer on them for obvious reasons as people will immediately know who they are and they will always recognise them. However the photo I chose is quite busy and covers the whole A4 page and features a various array of colours. But I think that this suits our video as we made it colourful, also our target audience will wear colourful clothes. Having the band's title at the top of the page/ in the main focus is quite conventional for an ad as Laura Marling did.

I got some audience feedback for my advert from a friend who fits my target audience criteria: From this I have learned that it is a good idea and important to have a similar theme throughout the main product and ancillary texts which I feel I have done quite well as i explained in my video analysis. But there are other things between the digipack and advert which are similar to each other. For example the effects I used, to give each picture the same look I used a similar changer of brightness and contrast. Also the creativity of the piece although it could be classed as conventional in some ways it is unconventional and not a very obvious idea for an advert. Especially the use of my prop which I wrote swimming on, a subtle inobvious way to include the title.
I am most proud of this piece as ways to appeal to my target audience are key to making this good advert product and I feel I have done this here with the creativity of it. I have kept to the same themes throughout the digipack too so that people will recognize each product e.g. the title and the script of the bands name are kept the same.

construction of the digipack. And finished product.

During our first filming session I managed to get some photographs for the front panel of the CD cover, the photos above are my favourite of them all. I think I will use the bottom one as she is looking directly at the camera which engages with the viewer more. The main focus is on her face which I decided to have on my first flatplan. In Adobe Indesign I placed my picture and writing, making the black script have a bright pink outline so that it stand out off the busy background:
But I think that this looked far too plain on its own. So I used photoshop to make the photo appear more modern and interesting, like the Florence and the machine album cover I analysed, it looks more colourful and grainy than just a plain photograph.

So next I placed the photo (without the writing) in photoshop. Here I selected the film grain tool and adjusted it to give a slightly old, grainy look.

I then adjusted the brightness and contrast untill I was happy with the photo.

I put this photo back into Indesign, keeping the writing the same. But it still looked quite bare, I looked at my researched digipacks and saw that Feist's had a white boarder so I put a triple line black boarder around mine, to make it stand out I selected the luminosity to give it a shadow. Although on the left side you can't see it as clearly because of the dark colours, I think it still looks better like this as it gives it an outline and makes it look more interesting.

Here is my finished front panel, I really like the way it looks as it features bright colours so it will stand out. It is not a normal photo, it looks much more unconventional with the change in brightness and contrast and it also looks as if it is a still from the video which will make people want to watch it. The creative look about it will appeal to my chosen target audience as it is a typical trait for my genre. I think that the fact she is looking at the camera really engages the audience.

I have had to use a different person for the rest of the photos as she dropped out and I did not know her. But they do look similar and I have used the same girl who is in our finished video for the rest.

For my middle panels, I constructed them both in Photoshop. For my middle left panel I decided to put the lyrics so that the buyer knows what she says and can sing along to the song. I had taken a photograph of a beach view, I then changed it in Photoshop to make it brighter, more blue so it stands out. For the script, I used exactly the same as the title of the song " Swimming" I got this idea from Florence's digipack I analysed earlier on as it gives it a theme throughout. I then wanted a simple photograph of our singer, as I think that the consumer will be interested in her. Because of the narrow depth of field she and the book are the main focus. This could be a still from the video, so people will see it and recognise her from the video or vise versa.

The back panel is also like it could be a still from the film and I out a dream-like effect on it by lightening up the top as if she is currently dreaming. I again carried on the same script as the title but put on a broken effect to go with the dreamy qualities. I was able to photoshop out the writing on her hand which unfortunately we could not do in the video.

It follows and challenges normal conventions for a digipack music video. It would not look completely out of place in a music shop but it does separate itself by the creative effects I have added. Also the busy on set backgrounds I have used, many of these photographs would conventionally be more simple or taken in a studio. But I like that they are taken on location as it keeps a dominant theme throughout all my media products and ties them together.

As I have stated above and in my final evaluation I have used and learned many different things on media technologies in the construction all within photoshop and Adobe Indesign. I have learned how to download text from dafont.com and save it.

Here is some audience feedback for my digipack:
Again as I have with the other feedback I have learned that it very important to have a relevant theme throughout, in this case she likes how the script is all the same. Also to get ideas from Florence's style and put it in my own work seems to be important because it has to be valid to our chosen singer. The casting is key as it enables our audience to be able to relate to our chosen actress. It is good to either have people want to be like her or can see themselves like her which I have done here.

filming and schedule

Props: I picked some leaves to colour for the woods scene in our music video, I have painted them in different colours but I think to gain a more dramatic effect I will need to do more of them. I have also bought some red pink and blue paint that we can splatter on the trees in shot in the woods scene. (book)

Our first filming session: Our group have been very late into starting filming which I haven't been pleased about but we had finally been able to move on and do our first filming session. Courtney and I turned up but we got a message from Phoebe saying that she was ill and could not make it. she had also not told our actress about it so we could not film any part of our video at all. Although this was a major set back Courtney and I really wanted to get on and film so we went to our location and I stood in for our actress so we could get an idea of what the first 8 frames would be like. The photo's above show us setting up the camera.

22nd jan: Today we could not film due to the heavy rain, it would not had worked as our film is set outside.

28th jan: I booked the camera but just before I went to collect it but i got a phone call from Courtney saying Phoebe could not do it I felt very let down as I had been waiting in college just to film.

29th jan: I waited for the other two, when Courtney arrived she said that she could not get hold of Phoebe. This was a problem as the actress is her friend and she was the person who was supposed to organise telling her when our filming schedule was, so we couldn't do it without her. We waited utill we could get hold of her, she had forgotten but said she could come in later. Courtney and I came to the conclusion that we should just find someone else to act in the video so that if Phoebe could not turn up to film then we could just get on with the filming as we were already behind. We asked one of Courtney's friends and she agreed to be in it. I was relieved as I thought that we would finally be able to get somewhere.

Both Courtney and I work on our days off so we find it quite hard to free up some time, so we have decided to film in college time. Our plan for the upcoming filming sessions is to get all the filming done with about 5 weeks to spare for editing. We have worked out the best day for filming, Monday 9.00-10.40 in Dan Jubb's lesson. This lesson is for editing and filming and each of us could be free to film. Fridays 10.30-12.05 we each had a free gap here so it is perfect filming time. I suggested we could change our story boards to have some filmed in doors or in a studio as all of our filming sessions could be cancelled due to bad weather. Courtney didn't like this idea as it doesn't tie in with our current storyline and I agree but I do think it is a promising alternative. Especially as the weather could make us behind.

1st february: Today we got the first six frames filmed for our video. I brought the leaves but they didn't turn out that bright, so instead we splattered the tree with the other paint I had bought. we filmed at a different tree which we had planned as the sun was shining on this one which looked brighter and more interesting in shot. I filmed the first frame but I made it much longer than i put on the story board so that we could edit the best part. I felt that we all had input into directing and voicing our opinions on how the shot could be inproved.
i have made a filming schedule. I took some photos of the tree that I splattered paint onto to show our setting.


5th February: After just one filming session our actress could no longer take part in our video, but luckily Courtney had another friend who could take part instead. I think that she had a better look about her, she looked more like Florence. We have to start over again though but we may use a bit of the footage of the leaves and put the rest on our blog as a testing sample. This session was actually more successful than the first as we had an even clearer idea of what we wanted so our directing skills were better. we took it in turns to do the camera work and direct ( also involving notifying our actress when to start singing to the music).

18th February: I had booked the camera for us to get the beach section of our video filmed. Couirtney and I met in Eastbourne with our actress, Phoebe had been notified and spoke to but she again failed to turn up. Considering this, I think that we still had a successful day. We shot the whole beach section Courtney did most of the directing and I did most of the camera work.
When we played it back in our next lesson I thought that it looked quite good.


15th March: We have finally finished our filming, we filmed our last two quick shots. we couldn't do it untill now because our actress wasn't well but this week we aim to also have our editing finished as we have booked a laptop to get the last bits done.

flat plans analysis

In order to show that we have thought about different ideas for our Digipaks, we must show three different flatplans. This will also help me choose the best ideas for the digipak to get a better outcome.

I have found a good font that I would like to use on the front panel on my front cover. For "Florence and the Machine" the writing is from dafont.com, it is called "peach sundress". It is neat but curly writing which gives it an artistic look. It is also very clear and stands out, so that the audience can recognise it. The font I will use for the title of the single and video "Swimming" is also from the same website and called "Freebooter Script". It is in a calligraphy style, I chose it as it is quite different from the other font so they look seperate frm eachother. I think they will both be in black and white and i will continue the same script in my other flatplans as I have made my definite decision.
I have printed out a few different fonts to see which one most people like.

Here is my first flatplan:
The picture on the front panel is an extreme close up of our actress, representing Florence Welch. I would like this picture to be in colour, and for her to wear bright make-up so that it stands out and reflects the colourful scene in the woods. I would like her hair to be blowing in her face so that you can see she is outside as is our video. I think that by using a clear and bold picture of the "singer" the audience would recognise her immediately and it would stand out. The picture on the outer back panel is of the beach where we will fim. I would like to take this in black and white as this section in our video will also be, it will give recognition to the video as it will be of the set where we film it. The script used on the back tells us which tracks it features, this and the email at the bottom will both be in the same font style as "SWIMMING" but not in capitals. I have put the bands' email address at the bottom so that the audience immediately know where to find more information on the band, it is a way of promoting them.
The inner left panel is a picture of our actress again, she is on the beach this time and it will look as if it is a still taken fromt he video so that people buying it will recognise it when they see the video. I think I may have this photo in black and white like the the beach scene in the music video although having it in colour would make it stand out more. The inside right panel shows a view of the ground near where we have filmed the scene in the woods. I would like this to definitely to be in colour and mabe hav some of the previously painted leaves in the photo too.

Here is a copy of my second flatplan:
The front panel is of the actress again, I think it is important to use a significant icon, such as the same person that is used in our music video as people who may have seen the music video and like it will immediately recognise the photo of the singer and so want to buy the cd. In this photo she is reading a book in the woods, we see her do this in the music video in shots number six and seven. The writing on the book is also the title of the CD. By putting "by Florence and the Machine" makes it seem more part of the book and as if the video is a story. This is quite an unconventional way of displaying the title which
also represents the band's own style. Again the outer back panel has the song title i have also put "swimming remix" as this is typical of most singles to add a remix someone has made of the song to the CD. The photo is a picture of both seaside and woodland like the part in the music video where she walks from the woods and finds herself on the beach.

My third flatplan: The front panel will have the same script on as my first flatplan. On the front cover i again have used a mid shot photo of our singer's face, for reasons which I have already expressed. She is in a beach scene now, I think it is important to sketch different possibilities and i feel that this could be just as an effective front panel as the woods ones as there are also parts in the video where she is on the beach. I have made the back simple and just put a close-up of some leaves (they could be coloured) which signifies the wooded area. In the middle she is also in the woods as if it is a still from a scene in the film, so people will recognise it. The other middle panel is of the book which is a significant prop in the film and it also says the title "swimming".

planned mise-en-scene, storyboard, animatic and brainstorm.

Brainstorming ideas for our video:

We looked at the lyrics of "Swimming" and want to relate the video to them. So our first ideas were for the set and location. We thought that it should be set at the beach as swimming is the main theme of the song. We were thinking of making the video have a 1920's beach theme, like an old black and white film. It would all be set on the beach and the shots would be quite simple. For example walking across the beach, looking out at sea. For the repetitive sections of the song they would be set in colour with brighter more modern clothing. The reasons for these ideas are: we wanted it to have relevance to the lyrics, we wanted a theme/ storyline that the audience can follow and we wanted to relate to Florence's other videos so that the audience can identify the song as hers.

Looking at different beaches we wanted one that would be easily accessable and not too crowded. We think that Eastbourne beach would be ideal for this as we could also use the pier, filming with it in the background or beneath it, which was built in 1870. Setting and filming in winter should ensure the beach is not too busy. There is also another option, Phoebe owns a beach hut at Hastings beach which we could use. Both these beaches are easy for each group member to get to.

on the left there are images (from google images)of the beach in the 1900's, and on the right is Eastbourne beach and pier now.

We have been researching on the Internet what we are going to use for our mise-en-scene. Looking at Florence and the Machine's website we found that it links to our old fashioned theme. On her website she had old, browned and ripped photographs and we want a similar grainy feel when shooting our video. We want to keep to our 1920s theme in our costume and makeup too and we want our actor to be dressed in a "flapper" dress. The hair and makeup will also be in this style. I have created a mood board of photos from Google images to show the style of costume:

The hair will be curled and up maybe with a feather in it. She will wear make-up with a smokey eye and red lipstick. I own a string of pearls that she can wear as from the photos we can see they were popular. We will also have a more modern, colourful, contracting, outfit for the repetitive sections of the song. For example it could be similar to Florence's normal wear or something that our actor owns already. We think that a 1920s theme would suit Florence's style as a contrast to it which would emphasise the modern parts of the video. She also looks like an English rose, I personally think that she would suit this style. I think that the modern senes are needed because these are the parts that will mostly appeal to our young target audience, for example they will like what she wears, or be able to relate to her style, these scenes will also reflect Florence's real style.

Here is a photo of Florence Welch in her own clothes: (google images)

We have chosen two different people who we think will be appropriate for the role of the singer in our video. We want only one person to represent Florence because it keeps it simple and relates to her own music videos. Although we would like her to vaguely represent Florence, we feel that it doesn't matter if they don't look similar. We may cast the girl on the right of this photo as she is willing to play the role, she dances and is a performing arts student. I think that they will both be good to in our music video so I think we will chose whoever is more available.

Mise-en-scene revisited:

One of the main themes throughout the video will be an old 1920s film. To achieve this we will film in black and white and afterwards will superimpose a grainy edit. Our other idea was not to have the whole video in this style but to have the chorus sections to be in colour so that there is a contrast, her costume will also be different, probably more modern and in her own bohemian style. we will brighten these colours while editing, similar to Florence and the Machine's existing videos. We would also like to use another location in the video so we can contrast and separate from the colourful, modern chorus section to the black and white, old fashioned verse section. We have now decided to film the colourful section in the woods similar to Florence's dog days video. there will be paint on the trees. We have found a place in Lewes where we could film this, it is a wooded location next to a large pond.

Brainstorming re-visited:
We have spoken about our video in our group and have decided that we need a clearer storyline. Here are our ideas: It will start with a black and white old fashioned title page with the song title on it "Swimming" it will then go into our first shot which will be of an old looking book also with the same title printed on it. (this woods section will be in black and white, old fashioned) There will be a series of shots to go in time of the music fading in and out then we would like her to mouth the words to the song and she will walk around the woods. She will then find an opening in the trees which leads to the beach. We want it to look as if she had stumbled upon it. So it would go with the lyrics as she sings more about swimming she gets closer and closer to the sea. (tthis section will be coloured and modern) There will then be a series of shots inwhich she gets closer to the sea untill she is finally there. We have had a few different alternative endings for example the book dropping out of her hand at the edge of the waves, or she could jump into the sea and swim off, or she could wake up in the woods again. I have created a mind map displaying our thoughts and ideas so far.

Brainstorming re-visited:

Courtney and I have discussed our video further and done some testing film of our location but we are thinking about making the whole video modern rather than 1920s themed. I think that this way we can still relate it to the lyrics but appeal to our target audience more. We have done some test shots of the wooded location and think it will definitely look better as bright and colourful. Then because the music during the beach scene is louder and faster it would go to the music better if she was in modern clothes and there was a bright and colourful theme throughout. We have filmed our first part of the film and our actress tried on the white, old fashioned dress we found on ebay. But we felt it would not go with our plans anymore, I think that this is definitely a better approach by keeping to the same theme throughout because the target audience will relate to it more and it makes more sense with our chosen artist and song.

here are the dresses we will now use in our video:

The first one we will use for the beach scenes, we want her to have a change of clothes as this section is ambiguous, she is almost a different person here or she may be in a dream if we choose the waking up in the woods ending. It is quite summery which relates to the location as we plan to film on a sunny day. The second is simple but with a burst of colour at the bottom, this could be something that Florence wears herself or that one of her fans wears. I think this dress reflects the genre of the piece.


There will not be many props used in our video as we want to keep it quite simple. At the beginning of the video she holds up a book with the name of the song on it. I have a hard back black plain covered book which I think I could use. In the woods scene we also want there to be some paint or coloured leaves, I will also be organising this.

Here is a photo of the tree I painted:

Here are some music videos that have inspired our ideas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA7ycePZujY Fiest: "1234"

I really like the way this video is filmed, it is done all in one take so the camera is mounted on a crane to give various high angle and low angle shots that flow together. The singer enters on her own and dancers run in from the side. They all wear different colours, the singers costume is glittery so that the audience can identify her out of them all. They perform a routine which goes with the feel-good music. Some bits look slightly improvised which fits in with the alternative music genre. The routine is creative and in one part she is picked up, a high angle shot is used and it is made to look as though she is walking round. This imaginative choreography will appeal to her creative audience. At one point the dancers all skip around her, they all Cheer and you can hear this over the track. This shows that they are having fun and will make the audience want to be a part of it. At the end as the music slows and so does the dancing, they all line up behind her but disappear. It is as if she has had a dream but we have been a part of it. This is like Florence's music video in that sense.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gKLsMtcvnU&feature=channel "Dog Days are Over"

The very first shot of the video is of the forest with colourful decorations around it as if there has been a party. From this setting, we will use some of the ideas in our own music video. Her audience will be of the party generation and so will want to be there. The camera pans around to show people dressed up in bright clothes with their faces painted. At first Florence wears a black and white suit but she changes into a more colourful dress, her audience are more likely to wear this type of clothing so will feel that they can relate to her, or want to be like her. The costume in our video will have bright colours part of the time too as we are planning to have a similar target audience. The dress she wears is also the same that she wears on the album cover and one of her single covers. This will enable higher identification of her from her audience. The end part of the video shows them all having a party. They are dancing, laughing and look like they're having fun. This will make the audience, like Feist's, want to be there and be a part of it.

This video relates to and represents Florence's individual and eclectic style through the colours and costumes.

Although these videos are similar in genre they have given us an insight into their own music videos and Florence's style. I will take some of these ideas and use them in my promo pack for example for the photographs I will take as I plan to have a picture of the woods with colourful decorations. We want to use this in our video too, the bright colours used in Feist's music video

will also show up in ours.



Animatic: in addition to and before our storyboards we produced an animatic on "final cut pro" by taking photos of our locations and put them in line with the same parts that it will be in our story boards. It enabled us to learn the basics of final cut pro but also made the basis of our music video clearer. Because I was ill the day Phoebe and Courtney went to take the photos I later added some of my own when we were editing the animatic. I think it would be better if we had more particular photos of each shot but I don't think we were at that stage yet. considering this it has been a very helpful process.

Story boards:

I drew out the storyboards for our video, I tried to include the shot type and timings for each shot.

At the beginning it starts with a silent title page displaying the name of the song to give it an old fuzzy look.then there are 16 beats before she starts singing so I thought that we could have eight shots (one shot every two beats/ one shot per second) which give bits away about the setting.

Courtney and I thought that the next parts were focused on her singing, we worked out the correct

timings each shot should be so we put timings in between most of the shots. On shot number 11, to make it more interesting I thought of making it a high angle shot.

Our actress then goes through the woods and finds the sea, which we will film at a wooded area near Eastbourne beach. the shot where she is on the stairs will be a low angle shot which was inspired by a photo Courtney took on location.

Then to go with the crescendo in the music our actress will run/dance around on the beach. there are then several beats whith we will get a long shot, mid shot and close-up of her each on the beat. She dances around to the faster muscic untill she lies on the floor. We thought we could rewind our footage untill she comes to a point with her lieing on the floor in the woods again just like at the beginning.

To look as if it was all a dream (as if she fell asleep reading the book and this was what was in the story) she would then wake up with a smile on her face, as if she shares a secret with the audience.

target audience, demographics and powerpoint presentation

As proof of research into our video, each group created a pitch as if we were trying to convince an audience to let us make the video. We each had to research a section and put it into a powerpoint presentation. We then were filmed reading out our parts of the powerpoint. My research part was the genre of the video. Here is a copy of the pitch in powerpoint format: https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B13FdJq5cNBfOWM0NjRiOGItMTZkOS00ZDgxLTllNTAtNmU2ZDMwMmFkNGVj&hl=en

This is the video of our powerpoint presentation, we each display the different parts that we researched. Unfortunately Phoebe wasn't there so the powerpoint is missing some of the target audience and demographics information, so I have researched some of this myself.

As one of our group members was not present and so couldn't supply the rest of the information(although there is some in the powerpoint) that we needed i have done my own research on the band's target audience and genre. The demographics of an audience is a population's characteristics and defines things such as their age, gender and nationality. Florence and the Machine's genre is described as indie, pop and rock. The typical conventions of rock is usually loud with strong guitar leads. Indie means independant and so is an unconventional form of music which sets itself apart from others. For example Florence's band has a harp, this is quite an unusual instrument to be used in a young popular band. She also wears unusual and creative outfits which, although it is becoming a trend with female artists, is out of the norm.

Florence has been featured in many magazines such as Vice, London Times, Mojo, Clash, Attitude and many more major British magazines such as Heat and Grazia. She has also been featured on the cover of The Fly, London Times Playlist and NME twice.

Here are some of the magazines which she has been on the front cover of. By seeing this it gives us a clear indication of who her target audience is. NME usually feature popular rock and indie artists so there will be aspects of their target audience which are similar. I looked on IPC Media to find out what NME's typical reader is like. The media pack shows us that the median age is 23, I think that this is probably the average to the bands' own audience as although there are many young fans, she is featured on the cover of Times Playlist which tells us she has a following of adults in the ABC1 category too. She probably has more female listeners but as she is on the cover of NME she will have a large male popularity because 76% of their readers are male.

Most of her target audience are British and Irish as her debut album "Lungs" peaked 1 and 2 in the charts in the UK and Ireland. But this album was also 14 and 16 in Belgium and Australia.

This(from Wikipedia) shows which awards she has won and been nominated for.



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