AICE MEDIA STUDIES
AICE Candidate #2194
Welcome! Thank you for visiting my page!
Final Product A-Level:
Music Video
Concept: Friendship
Song Choice
We're going to be friends - The White Stripes
I chose this song for my music video because of the lyrics of the song. The song talks about the years going by, the seasons changing, and growing up. I think this is perfectly representative of growing up with your friends, and meeting new ones along the way, and growing apart from some.
Additionally, I chose this song because it talks a lot about nature, like dragonflies and the sky. And I think since the song alludes to a lot of nature, it would make sense to include a lot of shots of nature in the scenes of my music video.
Also, the light, airy tone of the song is perfect because I want my video to seem positive and pastel and equally as simple.
Planning and Thought
Story Boarding:
I started my planning by drawing out what I wanted my scenes to look like. I did this by taking some inspiration from what i learned in AS Level Media studies, where I learned about different lighting and camera shot angles. For instance, for my first shot in the storyboard, I plan to use a wide angle, for others I plan to use an over-the-shoulder shot, or a close-up, to show the depth of my story. I also plan to use text occasionally, to showcase the name of the song and the artist, as well as to give credit to my actors.
For the sound, I don't plan to have any dialogue, only the non-diegetic sound of the song I chose will star in my music video.
Filming/Editing
Original Takes:
For filming, I went to the beach with my friends/actors and directed them in how I wanted the scene to go. However, we ran into a few issues.
This was another blooper. When taking close-up shots my acting crew really struggled to stay serious during filming. This may be because of my inexperience as a film-maker, and since I was shooting with my phone, I had to get a little up close and personal in order to take these shots, versus with a professional camera, It would be a bit easier to get these shots from further away.
During filming, I did run into a few issues. For example, my actors were my friends, and it was difficult to stay serious when taking shots such as close-ups. I took a centered close-up of my friend Erica in this shot. That is because I wanted my music video to have many close-ups in order to make it seem more personal and help the audience get a feel for the story and characters in my film, and close ups are perfect for this. The video to the left was a blooper not included in the film.
I made editing differences using the iMovie app, and with that, I layered texts over my videos and added transitions such as dissolves to switch between scenes. I also added in the non-diegetic song I chose and layered it over the shots to make it into a music video.
For the equipment I used to film, I used my iPhone, and for props, we had food, a car, and teenage-style clothes.
This is the editing software for iMovie. As you can see, it's very simple. However, that's all I needed to edit my video. I used the app to edit in a serif font into the film, and to layer the music onto the shots I took.
I'm quite pleased with how my film turned out after making these adjustments throughout the design process and after thoughtful consideration of every piece that went into my film!
Digipak Final Product
Editing/Planning Process
I very greatly derailed from my original plan for my digipak. At first I wanted I very complex digipak, resembling a scrapbook. This is because when initiating my research, I took inspiration and looked at a very harsh and bold digipak cover. However, the digipak I studied was for a rap single, whereas my digipak is for a soft song about friendship. Thus, I changed my mind on how i wanted to produce my digipak.
As you can see, I took various images and cut them out to create the digipak shown on the right, however, after further evaluation I decided it was too much. The hand-drawn serif font I used in the digipak above also didn't exactly match the calm vibes of a teenager that I was going for in my music video.
Final Product
Front Cover
For my updated digipak, to begin, I took photos of clips from my music video. This was to give my audience a sneak peek of what would be in the video. After all, the people purchasing my digipak may not go view the music video. However, by using the clips from the video, it excited listeners of the album. I used a wide shot for the front of the album, featuring all the actors in the film, because the wide shot left a lot of empty space which I liked a lot. The empty space gives a stark contrast to my original draft of the scrapbook-styled digipak. And the blue sky in the shot also allowed me to use a simple, sans-serif font. This was in order to not draw too much attention to the font, and more towards the picture from the film itself, again this is somewhere I did differently form my original draft, which had a very attention-catching serif font.
Back Cover
For the back cover of the digipak, I knew I wanted it to match the friends, however, I used a clip from the video with fewer actors/friends in the shot. This is because I wanted it to show the progression of the music and the music video itself. The music video begins with one person and ends with a group. And I thought it would be a cool idea to have the digipak mirror that idea, but in reverse. The front cover features a group of friends, and the back features just on individual. I used the same sans-serif font, and placed the text in the upper left corner to keep the theme of simplicity in my digipak.
CD/Disk
As for the disk, I wanted it to be a little bit more unique from the front and back of the digipak. I still used a shot from the music video, but instead of the beach, this time I featured a flourishing tree. This is to draw symbolism of teenagers, and how with growing up and making friends, one flourishes. This was a theme heavily explored in the main song on my album, so it only made sense to have the CD reflect that. Additionally, the song speaks of nature and birds and bees and earth, and I wanted the CD to also make note of that, and give it a more nature-y feel.
Social Media
For my website, I took inspiration from my digipak and kept it simplistic. I chose a black background, as it looked very elegant, and helped draw attention to the digipak, music, and music video I was trying to promote. The color scheme of the digipak is soft beach blues and sandy creams, and so the black makes it stand out. The colors also make it seem peaceful, which is exactly what the song in the album is, peaceful and soft. I made this website using Canva. I also added simple headlines, such as "a new song from the white stripes". This was to make my audience aware of the newest release. And below, I added a button that links directly to my music video. I did this to gain viewers for my music video.
I also used the image on the back of the digipak and blew it up to be a split screen for the second slide of my website. This was to draw attention to the big words on the website. "be the first to hear the song when it drops!". I thought a simplistic with big sans serif text would help draw attention to the words and release of the album. I also added a brief text explaining that the music video was looking for actors, and I will elaborate on this within the Instagram I made for the album.
I wanted to advertise to my audience that my film was looking for actors and extras, this was to draw attention and hype for the album, and cultivate a sense of community engagement with my viewers. I made this post using a picture of the beach, seeing as it directly related to my film, which was all shot at the beach.
Final Product!!!
This was the final product of my film! Below I'll go into some of the media tools i used to make my film as engaging as possible.
For this shot, I used a medium shot and used a steady hand-held camera to have the shot shake with the movement of the girls in the film. They were dancing with excitement, and the camera moved with them, showing the audience the scene almost as if they were in there with the actors. As for the mise-en scene, the light in this shot is very bright and airy, and it reminds the audience of a warm summer beach day, just like the kind many can remember from when they were growing up, or as teenagers.
For this shot, I used an over-head shot, that somewhat takes you into the POV of the actors. With the close-up of the actors grabbing food and sharing, it immerses you into the film in a very personal way. The lighting in this shot still remains light and airy but vastly differs from the shots taken at the beach.
For this shot, I used a close-up, again, shot with my phone camera. The close-up shot was used to introduce and humanize the character in the film and make the audience feel connected to the actor. Also, the close nature of the shot taken makes the audience feel like they're included in the festivities and meals of the actors, which is something I wanted to draw across in my film, the sense of community and happiness you feel as a teenager.
For this shot, I used an over-the-shoulder angle, this helps immerse the audience into the conversation and includes them in the scene.
For this shot, I used a wide shot of the scenery. This was also taken at the beach, however, since the shot is taken on a pathway, which leads past the camera, it makes the scene seem like the actors are coming towards you as they walk forward. It's shot at eye level and establishes a sense of color and scenery with the mise-en-scene of the nature-y location. This is one of the few shots that derail from the beach or ice cream shop and truly adds more color and excitement to the film.