Unit 2: Communication skills

Horror Film Group

Kumani

Zion

Daniel k

Annie

Vanessa

Sam

Diane

Sina

Dan M

Mockumentary

Kareem 

Dhanish 

Jack 

Nathaniel

Alfie

Andrew 

Matthew

Research

Lighting methods

Budget (cost)

Equipment

Advertising (making appealing posters or trailers)

Location 

Target market 

Certification

Extracting Information

LO: To understand how to extract information from a variety of sources.

In this unit, you will need to be able to extract targeted and relevant information from a variety of sources that will be beneficial to your production work.
You should use sound and established methods to extract the required information, such as targeted searches and annotation

Different methods

• skim-reading 
• scanning 
• using an index
• using word and phrase search 
• highlighting 
• copy and paste 
• writing notes 
• annotation 

Annotation is where you get research, understand it and make notes on how you understand it.

Task 1 

What are you looking for?

Horror 

Top 10 scariest things - what people find scary in a film?

Type of characters?

Do they like blood? 

A villain?

Why is it relevant or helpful?

Researching what people expect in a film can help to make something different and unique happen (something they won't expect).

Researching the things that people find scary helps because you get an idea of what makes a film more scary and how you could possibly adapt it.

Where can you look for information?

Survey

Online forums 

books

reviews

newspapers 

magazines

social media

Which part of the production process will it help?

writing/storyboard 

editing

Can I understand the information?

What Information Can I use?

Does the information 

How will I get the information out of the source?

• Note taking 
• video taping 
• tape recording
• photocopying 
• Printing (from a computer source)
• Interviewing (and note taking or tape-recording)
• Photographing 
• Scanning (requires a scanning device)
• Drawing sketching

Once you've gotten your information

Begin to annotate

Read through your research and highlight relevant information 

Make notes on the highlighted information

Swap notes from members of the class

1. Double check to see if the research is legit.
2. Have you collected all kinds of information
3. Have you recorded the bibliography from the sources you have researched.
4. Do you have enough information to begin organising it?

The Big Picture

Media pitches are when someone presents a powerpoint or gives a speech. Effective presenters have communication skills that include: Body Language and Eye Contact, Vocal Quality.  If you cannot deliver a pitch then it's most likely that you won't get the job.

Barriers to effective communication:

• The use of jargon or slang - Over complicated language or unprofessional language.
• Letting your nerves get the better of you. 
• Lack of interest in the topic.
• Distractions or irrelevance to the topic.
• Voice is unclear or very soft.
• Presentation is too long.
• Lack of presentation

Nerves - prepare yourself properly before giving a pitch, make notes so you don't need to be nervous.

Body Language

Body language is as important as the speech because it shows your attitude towards the topic. It also makes you seem more confident.

Bad presentation.mp4 - The woman looks like she doesn't know what she is talking about; she looks stiff which makes her look like she's not interested. She seems like she is unprepared as she has no eye contact and just reads off the screen. 

Dragon's den Best pitch ever - She looks like she is very interested in the topic. She is smiling, uses eye contact, has examples to support her point. She doesn't look at the board too much because she already knows what she is going to say.

For myself, I need to be able to walk around, use non-verbal communication and make some notes so I don't need to stutter and look at a board. Smile more so that I seem more interested in the topic.

Vocal Quality

Make sure your vocal quality is being varied so the audience don't get bored. This keeps the audience engaged.

A lot of filler words such as "urm" and "urr". She is really nervous, this is reflected by the way her voice wavers. Monotone voice which made the pitch boring. She didn't seem interested in being there.

She sounds very interested, she knows what she's talking about. She changes tone and pitch frequently in order to keep the judges engaged. She uses formal language, there is no stuttering and filler words.

To improve my vocal quality, I would need to take my time presenting and take breaks whenever I need it to avoid stuttering. Taking a moment to pause can prevent filler words as well.

Assignment 29.3

click here for writing task

Pre-production Techniques

Finance
To assess the financial viability of the proposed production:

• The potential sources of finance (sponsorships etc..)
• The expenditure (equipments, props, crew, travel costs etc...)
• Finding a budget

Time 

Deadlines can be tight, timescale is an important factor. Having a schedule is important and when the actors/crew are free should be noted down in order to plan dates/days when to go and record.

Personnel

Hiring the right people with the right skills in order to make the recording process flow nicely. Make sure the production team is the right size for the job. Each member has the right balance of knowledge and skills.

Facilities 

Any project needs equipment and facilities in order to record, produce, and edit raw footage and turn it into a finished product.

Materials

Plan and record test shots and different sorts of footage that would be used for the video and use the test shots to further develop your ideas. Then record the final footage and take the test shots into consideration.

Locations

Check out appropriate locations during the pre-production phase. Making sure that whoever is featured in that location is asked to participate and be apart of the video. Maximise the materials recorded and produced in the shortest time possible; real life recording scenario would cost a lot for, crew, talent and equipment!

Copyright

If you want to use existing, footage, images etc.. you need to ask for permission in order to use the materials if permission is needed. 

www.ipo.gov.uk has more information on gaining rights.

Codes of practice and regulation

Is it going to be suitable for the type of audience. Is it going to be offensive to a certain type of audience. Would it be legal or illegal?

Public Liability 

School covers the insurance on injuries or equipment! In a real life filming scenario you'd need insurance in order to get coverage on any injuries or accidents.

www.filmlondon.org.uk

Assignment 29.2 - Task 2

Styles, Conventions and Techniques worksheet

link to power point for part 1: https://coulsdonac-my.sharepoint.com/personal/ss161337_student_coulsdon_ac_uk/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?guestaccesstoken=3zCYUm6b4spb8Oe8kpy3NACT695X1qXK623bSEGzSiQ%3d&docid=19de4d14210f940f189518972d1fe4b09&rev=1

A)
Lyric Interpretation - Where the words of a song means something to the artist and can be interpreted in the way that it is intended. People could find other interpretations; some people can take the lyrics and can interpret the song in ways that speak to them.


Extending or Consolidating a Songs Meaning - Where the combination of video and lyrics tells one story and can give one meaning but the lyrics can mean something else. The video is used to refer to a songs meaning metaphorically to make the songs lyrics seem like they mean one thing, which they could do, but would mean something completely different.
Example: Beartooth - "I have a Problem"

Focus On Performer
Is a music video which focuses on the artist/performer and shows the artist playing the song. A music video that has been released by a new, upcoming artist mostly has camera shots and angles focusing on the artist. The point in having a performer focused video, is to show people who the artist is and to promote themselves through a video. Making a video that is live and focused on the artist can show people/new fans how they perform live and to show them how energetic they are,

Lighting for mood
A music video can have different lighting depending on the video theme. All music videos can either be optimistic or pessimistic/positive or negative. The more positive the message of the song or story (in video) is the brighter the lighting would be. Negative or pessimistic videos have a darker and dimmer lighting to set the tone for the video, Lighting for mood is very important; it's good to have a good lighting so that the video matches the tone and song meaning.

Allusion
Allusion is where a music video shows something and the viewer is reminded of something without the video or the lyrics showing/saying it explicitly. This makes a song extend in meaning to different types of people, depending on what the song reminds them of.

B)
Special effects such as chroma key (green screen)

Beartooth "Hated"- A video which only has the band and a couple of actors and props in the video. The background of the video comes from effects made using the green screen.

Multi-mage (Multiple images on screen at once)

I See Stars "Mobbin' Out" This video shows multi-mage and separates the different images by turning one layer black and white and the other coloured.


Cutting to the beat

I Prevail "Scars" This music video is fast and has different types of camera shots and are 'cut to the beat' and changes camera shot/angle every bar.

Lip syncing and miming

Pierce The Veil "Bulletproof Love" has lots of lip syncing and miming from the actors that play the role of the dysfunctional couple. They mime the words as the song lyrics can be used in a relationship context and in an argument

Animation

.

Arctic Monkeys "Do I Wanna Know" has no humans/actors in the video as it is fully animated. It uses the albums artwork (AM); the waves which turns into objects and people. 

. Reference to or includes another artists

Pierce The Veil "Circles" - The part in the video when the band are in the room at 2:39 where the band enter a room with newspaper articles all over the walls. The video makes reference to the band Sleeping With Sirens and All Time Low.


C)
Illustrative - Is a music video in which the lyrical content relates to and is expressed in the video. The lyrics are used to create a suitable video which can reflect the lyrics easily.

Sleeping With Sirens - "Do it now, Remember it later" 

This song songs lyrical content is reflected directly in the video. The lyrics talk about the band doing whatever they want to do and the video shows the band drawing graffiti, interrupting a news report and doing whatever they want. 

Interpretative - Is a music video which can have multiple meanings, the true meaning of the song (lyrically) or the deeper meaning to a song, perhaps metaphorically instead of taking the song lyrics literally. Interpretative videos make use of an audio and video to create a different meaning which links the two (audio and video) together.

Pierce The Veil "Bulls In The Bronx"

This song shows two different meanings to the song. The song on its own was written about a fan who committed suicide. However, the video shows the a different story of a father getting angry at a daughter because of how her boyfriend snuck into her room.

Surrealist - A music video which would appear to be fake if it happened in real life. A video that makes use and mixes real life and dream in order to make a video seem like a fairy tale or a more abstract and bizarre.

Katy Perry - "California Gurls"
This song in itself can never happen in real life. Gummy bears dancing with real women could never happen in real life but it makes it seem like a dream.





Pastiche/homage - Is a way of using a music video as a tribute to another person/media/social icon etc... It is just another way of showing affection and gratitude for what the person has done i.e The song Wiz Khalifa ft Charlie Puth - See you again; a tribute to Paul Walker (actor) who died from a car crash.

See you again is a tribute to Paul Walker and shows the last seen of Fast & Furious 7.

As-Live - Is a video in which the artist has recorded a live video and has used a track/single as the audio for the video in order to make a live music video. The live performance won't be broadcast-ed because the video may need editing if there were any errors.

Asking Alexandria - "Not The American Average"
This video is footage taken from a live performance in Irvine, CA at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater.

Parody - A music video which is not original! Where one artists uses a song and its original music video in order to create a cover song, where the parody artist recreates the song and video to produce a cover which mostly mocks the original artist or the original song.

This is a parody of Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" Instead of the video showing the singer dancing with some girls, there is a granny which is dancing comedically.




Animation - An animated music video is a video which is either partially or fully made on a computer. An animated music video is normally a video without any humans or actors but a video with computer made characters or objects; a video that has mostly been made virtually from drawings or from computerised objects.

All Time Low "For Baltimore"
This video is an animated music video which shows the story of the animated band as they go on their adventures.

Lesson 4 - Music Video - (12/10/16)

Styles, Conventions & Techniques
For the music videos make use of:

• Colour 
• Location 
• Choreography& Perfeormance
• Narrative (story)
• Sexual/Violent content
• The image of the musician 
• Representation (gender, class, age etc..)
• Humour 
• Editing 
• Lighting

Pop song: beech, jumping around/girly, vibrant colours, summer, happy and joyful video, looks like a teenager, someone who likes love.

Rap/Hip Hop

On the streets, unique dance moves, gold chains, girls standing in the car (being rebellious), cars and girls (typical street racer/rebellious person)

Rock/Metal  

Darker, shaky camera, farm house, violent content, scary/horror

In-concert and 'As Live' footage.

Animation (stop-motion or modern) - animation to represent the video

Illustrative/Interpretive - illustrative - the lyrics speak more but also goes with the music video. Interpretive - the video gives another meaning 

Narrative 

Surrealist - using bizarre ideas to create a dream/fantasy video to make the video more memorable and interesting.

Pastiche & Homage - referencing to pay tribute to a film or person etc..

Parody - using someone else's idea but in a way that kind of mocks it. 

Conventions

Lyric interpretation

Extending or consolidating song's meaning

allusion - making reference to other things (pastiche/homage & parody)

links to other artists or collaborations.

Techniques

Cut to the beat 

Visual Effects 

Miming and lip-sync

Chroma Key 

Assignment 29.1

The Purpose of a Music Video
Music videos generally consist of audio, image and effects; they are used to create a video which mostly, in the music industry, has a storyline for content for the video. However some music videos contain more of a visual video, where there isn't a storyline, just a video with lots of effects. The purpose of a music video is mainly for promotion; artists would use music videos as a means of promoting a song recording by grabbing the attention of others. There are many forms of promotion in the music industry such as:

• Promotion of the artist
• Promotion of a particular song
• Promotion of the album
• Promotion of and synergy with other media products
• To increase income for a record label
• To increase the range of media the artist is active in 

Promotion of an artist - Wage War - Alive (2015)

This is a new band who released their first album in 2015, they released the song "Alive" to promote themselves. They only had one scene in which they are playing a live gig and the camera shots are all focused on the band members themselves. All fans of metal bands always want the live performances of the band they're seeing to be unforgettable, so the video also gets some shots of the crowd having fun. By this viewers can see that the band is good at getting the crowd going. 

As a band their aim is to impact as many people with their music, to do that they need to first get a good response from the audience. By making a music video soon after the release of the single "Alive", they have already gained nearly a million views on youtube on top of their 3,000,000 views they have already got on spotify. At the end of the music video their is a picture of the band which is used to promote their new single "Alive" whilst also promoting itunes by synergy as they are selling their music from itunes to promote their music, they are also promoting apple itunes so that the company can get more downloads.



This video contains mostly medium shots where you could see about half of the bands' bodies in the camera shot. The medium shots are focused on the band members themselves, the low angled shots are mainly used to see the drummer and his drum kit. There are medium/close range shots of the guitars themselves as the guitarists play.
The video has footage that seemed to have been recorded handheld since the footage had quick and unpredictable movement, these shots of the crowd surfers were also done in slow motion as well to allow viewers to see how much fun they could have by going to one of their shows.
There is tilted camera angles where you could see the crowds hands and some of the crowd surfers jumping in slow motion, this makes the it so that viewers could feel like that's what it would look like if you went to the show and you were in the crowd.

Promotion of a particular song - Blessthefall - Hey Baby, Here's That Song You Wanted (2011)

In the studio recorded version of this song, the song starts with a girl saying this line "Hey Bo, You are a f*****g liar, you are worthless, I never want to ever see you or talk to you again, so go f*** yourself. F*** you". So they made this music video cinematically because all their fans were wondering why the band added the speech from the girl at the beginning of the song therefore they made this music video to explain the story and meaning behind the song. 

This band formed in 2003 and was big by 2008 due to Craig Mabbit (ex-singer of blessthefall/2003-2008) leaving the band to join Escape The Fate. The fallout between the ex Blessthefall frontman and current Falling in Reverse frontman got Blessthefall some attention. Come 2011, Blessthefall have had quite a lot of attention and they made an 8 minute video/movie to explain the song; they didn't need to promote their band but just the song itself.

The song has all kinds of shots seeing as its more of a movie music video, the shots vary from panning to arc shots and even the use of steadicam which would follow the actors. These 3 shots were recorded just to set the scenery, so that the viewers can be able to see what the house looked like after the bachelor party. There are plenty of medium shots in which you could see the actors and what they are doing; examples of this would be the cafe scene where the waitress pours water all over herself so they could also get the customers reactions. There is good use of the over-the-shoulder shot in which you could see over the shoulders of the two members of the band in the red truck. This shows us the connection and the comedic side of the members as they scream simultaneously. 

Promotion of the album - Beartooth - Aggressive - 2016 

This song is promoting the album by having the same name for the song and the album. The frontman for the band Caleb Shomo was in a band previously, named Attack Attack and he left the band late 2012 and rejoined the band for their last ever performance in 2013. Shomo wrote a couple of songs and then release an EP named 'Sick' which grabbed attention from Attack Attack fans. They release a full length album named 'Disgusting' in 2014, which helped with promotion as others started to listen to them more and more. They released a second full length album in 2014 which propelled their audience, one of their most well known songs from the album 'Aggressive' became popular, so they recorded a music video to also promote the album. The producer and the band decided to purposely use black and white image to probably add to the effect of being 'Aggressive'. Their album cover was also in black and white, so they made the video in the same colours as the album cover to match each other and to promote the album.

There are different types of camera shots in this music video, there are : close ups, POV shots (to see what the character sees, exactly), low angle shots. The close ups show the guitarists and Caleb as they perform at the first scene. The POV shots are often the shots that are used on the second scene where the camera is the criminal/vigilante (the kid at the end). The POV shot is meant to show how aggressive someone can be if you were to see through their eyes; it allows the viewer to see through the perspective of the child (aggressive person). The low angles show the guitarists and the drummer at different intervals, which just made the members of the band and the kid at the end look big and superior. The combination of having a close up of the candidate and then the low angle shot of the kid as he steps on the camera (steps on the mans head), makes the kid look superior to the man, whilst making him look inferior and pathetic.

This song portrays the theme of being aggressive in such a good way that it promotes the band, and the song but mostly the album due to the song name title being the same as the album name.

Promotion of and synergy with other media products - Pierce The Veil - Caraphernelia - 2010
Pierce The Veil have promoted a lot of other products in this video using synergy. For the band, in 2010, wanted to get bigger so they had lots of different products in the music video that could be seen clearly in order to get a good response by fans.

The main products that were used and promoted in this video by synergy are: Orange guitar amps, Gibson guitars, Evans drum kit, apple Iphone and last but not least a feature by Jeremy Mckinnon of "A Day To Remember".

One of the main uses of synergy was with the featuring of Jeremy Mckinnon. Some A Day To Remember fans who haven't heard of Pierce The Veil will take the time to listen to them because of this collaboration. This would promote Pierce The Veil fans to they fans of A Day To Remember and vice versa. The often appearance of the apple iphone 3g/3gs, promotes the usage of iphones for post-hardcore bands. This is an example of synergy between apple and Pierce The Veil. The instruments used and the amps used is another example of synergy because people who are in a band of similar genre to Pierce The Veil, they could get a rough idea of the equipment and instruments used in a post-hardcore band (Gibson Les Pauls/Fender jazz bass and Orange amplifiers).

To increase income for a record label - Panic! At The Disco - Emperor's New Clothes - 2015

Panic! At The Disco is currently on their 5th album, when the music video came out, it came out as a single for their 5th album "Death Of A Bachelor". Seeing as Panic! At The Disco had a huge fan base by their third album "Vices & Virtues", all the label had to do was release a single for the band's new album. "This Is Gospel" became such a fan favourite and the music video for "Emperor's New Clothes" was the continuation of "This Is Gospel". Because the band was already big and Fueled By Ramen (their record label) got Brendon Urie (the only member left of the band) to release a sequel to a fan favourite song. This helped the label to have an increase in income. Increase in income is what they got, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" the bands most famous song got 156,126,000 views in the last 10 years. It has only been 11 months since the release of the music video "Emperor's New Clothes" and they have already achieved half of that amount (83,144,000 views), which definitely increased income for their record label.

To increase the range of media the artist is involved in - Memphis May Fire - Ghost In The Mirror - 2010

Memphis May Fire is metal core band who started their band in the 2006. They needed more recognition after their first album "Sleepwalking" which was released in 2009. Memphis May Fire were one of the many bands to have a sound track in the "Saw" movie franchise. This increased the range of media they were in by featuring in a movie. This got them more attention and was the true starting point in their career. The results of an increase in the range of media the artist is involved in was an increase in fans and followers which really helped them on their second album "The Hollow".
The video itself has glimpses of the movie (from SAW VI) which also adds to the range of media. Fans of the band who haven't watched any of the SAW movies may be encouraged to watch the movies simply because their favourite band is in it and vice versa; some people who have watched the film may like the soundtrack and want to listen to it, so they'd research the songs and also look at the bands other song.

Lesson 3 - Music Video (21/09/16)

Music Production - Purpose, Promotion & controversy
Music videos are a promotion tool for different things such as artist, single etc... and how can they be promoted. Or are they promoting an album or a music video.

How else might a music video promote a song/album/artist?    .....CONTROVERSY!!

What is controversy?
Something that causes conflict between different people in society.

Record company: higher single or album sales = more profit
Artist: More fame = more money(sponsorships, sales, records/albums)

Artists may make videos and songs about their dark issues to raise the listeners awareness and get them thinking about

Controversial Videos:
Bring Me The Horizon - Go To Hell, For Heaven's Sake
There are loads of references to christianity, such as the cross in the snow and a cross on a shop/building saying Jesus saves, a cross figure that goes on a chain and also the most controversial, the burning cross.

The song is about someone who has betrayed Oli Sykes (the screamer) and he is just saying how he feels; how much no one wants to hear them and no one wants to see them and how he wished they'd go to hell.

It is controversial because the band are criticising christianity and how they think christianity is something people believe in because they don't want to do things for themselves. Some christians or catholics can be offended by the video which shows them in a church and multiple skulls and their lyrics say the opposite thing.

The song was recorded in a church yet Oli Sykes is screaming about someone being so desperate and pathetic and they should go to hell for heaven's sake.

Lots of criticism from fans about recording music videos in a church when the band doesn't believe in God or christianity.