1. The genre of the music video was a typical heartbreak break up song about a toxic relationship. The music video fits the typical standards for this genre because throughout the video the main protagonist (a boy), is shown being emotionally harmed by his current lover. The music video shows the hardships of their relationship and why the protagonist needed to end the his everlasting love. The film does not really deal with social groups or issues. The only issue that the video may portray is subjecting oneself to a emotionally abusive relationship.
2. This music video will grab the audiences attention due to the dramatic story that was shown. The acting in the film was really dramatized so that it can make a greater emphasis on the song. The tragedy that is acted out in the music video is very attention grabbing since the lyrics were taken very literally. It would get into the theaters by marketing it as a drama or love tragedy since that is a popular genre due to the classic Romeo and Juliet. It would be distributed through the country and published in commercials during movie trailer commercials in theaters to let people know that it was coming out. If that were to happen then people would spread the word and inform more people to see it so that by the time of the movie’s release date the movie will have already gained some kind of popularity.
3. During the music video I grew as a film maker because I gained more filming experience as I worked with the camera more. I learned how to use the time of day and surroundings to my advantage. I have also learned that when given a filming project it is best to not wait until last minute because so many things could go wrong. It is easier and safer to just hurry and get it out of the way so that there is mire time for editing. I figure out that I like the feeling of filming scenes successfully during the first shot because its easier when it works out the first time around. What I dislike is how much time it takes to get the scene right. It is a very tedious process since sometimes the lighting isn’t right and it looks funny on the camera or the scene that was imagined in the storyboard looks odd when being acted out. Filming has not changed my mind about the career I want in the future, however, it has made me realize how much work goes into being a director and the stress that it induces. The journey I have taken as a film maker has helped me become closer with my team and it forces me to go out of my house more since filming needs to take place in interesting locations.
4. In order to make this film, a handheld camera was used to record the music video and an editing software called pinnacle was also used. I’ve incorporated what I’ve learned in class to make the actual film looks nicer. Effects were added to make the video more interesting and eye grabbing. Effects like fade were used so that the video could transition almost seamlessly into the next scene yet it looks cooler

Today the video clips that were filmed last weekend were looked at to determine which ones were usable for the film. While editing the clips, there were some problems determining where which clip should be placed. It was confusing because there were so many shots that were taken so it was harder to weed out the bad clips. It was also noticed that the video clips were a little shorter than planned so there was a big gap that was missing footage. Since time was running short for filming, it was decided to just extend the video by adding effects such as slow motion. There were also some ideas for adding a title screen or an opening screen for the couple of seconds in the beginning of the song since there were no words. Another idea that was looked at was adding back the parts that were cut out from the clip. Not necessarily because these extra parts were bad, simply because they held no importance. Effects such as fading was adding to make it seem seamless when it went to the next scene. Overall the video is practically done with a few extra editing work left.

This past weekend a lot of progress in the music video was made. On Saturday afternoon filming took place where a few scenes were to take place. One of the difficult shots that took a while to perfect was the scene where the protagonist was sleeping. The problem that kept happening was the lightning for the scene kept changing because it was hard to see on camera. In order to reciprocate the preferred lighting I had to use the flashlight of two phones and angle them in a way where it was not to bright to make it seem as if the scene was being filmed at night time. For this shot a birds eye view angle was used to get a full shot of the protagonist sleeping and the lighting added a cool effect on the scene. The second hardest scene to film was when the window scene was being shot. The window scene required two actors to sit outside the window sill and peer into the window to watch the sleeping protagonist. Since it wasn’t actually nighttime when the scene was being filmed it was very bright outside which proved to have problems for the camera. Whenever the actors would open the curtains to peer in the window, the light would flood in and block out their faces making it hard to see the actors on camera. This led to a towel being held behind the actors so that light wouldn’t get into the shot and the camera wouldn’t have such a hard time processing the shot. Many retakes of these scenes were taken to perfect them which took a while. The next couple scenes that we had to take required an open area so the set switched to being outdoors. The only bad thing was that the camera was running out of battery and daylight was slipping away quickly. These scenes were rushed quickly so that there was only very little to film just in case the camera died in the middle of filming, which it did. After the camera died it was left to charge for roughly 15 minutes before it was used to film the final scene for the day. Due to the new storyboard not being brought to the shoot, it was hard to recollect all the ideas and changes that were made to the story. It will be checked next school day to make sure that all the proper scenes were filmed. Filming ended up taking a lot longer than expected but many scenes were taken so there will hardly be any scenes left to take and the main focus will be editing so that it is finished before the deadline.

Today for the music video, plans were made for where the last scenes of the video were going to be taken. The location that was chosen was my house since it was most suitable for the scene that is trying to be created. The main focus of this weekend is to finish up all of the gaps that were missed in the original storyboard with the new one that was made. The tools that were going to be needed have been talked about and there was a discussion about how the final edits would be done. There were suggestions for what effects should be added to the intro in order to make the video look cooler. There were also suggestions about what kind of transitions should be added if the film called for them. The final preparations for the music video were planned out in terms of how it was going to be done. The music video was different colored filters to add a more creepier effect to the video which was also altered while editing. Besides that there is not much work to do before the actual filming and editing take place this weekend.

Today clips were uploaded from the camera to See all the usable and unusable footage. While going through this many notes were taken are the scenes that need to be redone or scenes that needed to be added since there were a lot of parts of the song that were still missing. However the usable footage was edited to make the parts flow more fluidly and were arranged where they would make the most sense in the song. There is a lot more scenes that need to be made due to the large amount black spaces there are in between the actual footage. In order to brainstorm ideas about what would be good fill in scenes, the song was replayed numerous times so that ideas could flow through. In the end a new storyboard that was filled with the new ideas that were come up with was agreed upon. As for the unusable scenes that were clipped from the video have to be redone because the scene was poorly done or looked odd to the eye. Places where the music video have been chosen and are planned to be done by next week so that editing would be the only focus. Other things such as video effects were added to the film just to make it more visually appealing as well. Although there’s quite a few to do left, it can be finished within a day and all the filming will be complete for the project.

There has been a pause in the music video process so that the class could watch the classic thriller and horror Psycho (1960). This movie is iconically known for the shower scene where Marion Crane was brutally stabbed in the shower. It is also known for its soundtrack and clever camera angles that was used to make this film. The soundtrack does an amazing job amplifying the fear and anxiousness that the viewers are supposed to feel. As for the camera angles and techniques, a lot were used. For example, when Norman was using a peephole to look into Marion’s room the camera angle that was used was over the shoulder which made it seem as if the viewers were observing it as well. Another one that was commonly used was the medium close up shot. This was used every time one of the subjects were driving which gave us a clear view of their emotions that they were feeling at that time. Two of the most important scenes of the movie used camera angles and effects as well. During the shower scene while Marion was showering, the camera angle that was used was a two shot so that it could get Marion and Norman’s mother standing in the doorway behind the shower curtain. As for the other important scene, after Norman was caught and he asked the police officer for a blanket, the camera slowly zoomed in on Norman’s face as Norman’s “mother” was talking. As she just about finished talking the dissolve effect took place and showed Mrs. Bates’ skeleton face in the face of Norman as it went to the finishing scene. Psycho uses a lot of cool camera angles and effects that are still used today in newer movies.

The past weekend, filming was done on the beach and the park for the first part of the storyboard and certain scenes were done as well. Filming the first part of storyboard was more difficult than expected and took a lot longer than planned. There were many retakes since the surroundings were packed with people and it would be unprofessional to have them in the video. There were also retakes so that the video could be filmed in a dreamlike filter to make it seem more realistic. There were also scenes that needed to be readjusted so it could fit in with the surroundings. By the end of the day there was a lot of filming that had been done. There are only a few more scenes of the that need to be done so that the editing process can start. So far, the music video has been coming along smoothly and there had only been a few incidents with the camera battery. Its expected to only take one more weekend of filming to finish majority or all of the storyboard.

The song that was chosen for the music video is called Tainted Love by Soft Cell. The song was chosen because the story behind the song would be easy to express through actions and it  is emotional. As for the storyboard it was divided into 30 seconds per group member so that it would add up to 1 minute and 30 seconds. For the first 30 seconds of the song, which is my half, the song talks about running away from their past lover and the pain that they’ve caused. Because of that, the first couple of panels are of the actor running away from something perceived to be seen as a shadow following them. The other panels display the main protagonist being torn apart by the pain of the heart break and how they struggle to live their day to day life since it has changed them. The rest of the storyboard shows how the main protagonists continues to suffer from the pain of their heart break and how they try to get away from this toxic cycle of love that they’ve been stuck in. Places where the scenes will be shot have been decided on and are scheduled to start the filming process this weekend. The plan is to get the easier parts of the film out of the way so that the harder parts can be focused and perfected.

1. How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

• Since the product that was used was Gatorade, instead of challenging conventions it was used to portray a common sports commercial. In a Gatorade commercial, normally it shows an athlete of any kind sweating as they play their sport or of them conditioning to prove that their drink restores hydration. This model was used to help make guidelines that would be easy to follow. It represents social groups by targeting people that work out actively and are athletic. This is because in the actual commercial, it shows someone jogging around the track and reaching for a cold Gatorade after their jog. This insinuates that Gatorade is not just a regular drink like juice.

2. How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

• The product engages with the audience by using humor to grab their attention. Cheesy effects were added that usually make people roll their eyes but since it isn’t that common in commercials anymore, it makes it stand out more. If the commercial were to be displayed on real media, it would be during events like the Super Bowl where there would be a lot of people to view it. It would be shown to a lot of athletes in mass numbers. It would also be good on stations such as ESPN and other sports channels where sports players and others would be watching.

3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

• They developed a lot more than expected during this project. It helped me grasp the significance of  having a script and storyboard for filming. It also showed how much the surroundings could affect how the audio and actual product could come out. Even when the wind is blowing only a little or if the sun is dimmer than usual then it could look like it was filmed poorly. Working with these conditions taught me how to work around these kind of things and produce a quality film regardless of the situation.

4. How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

• While going through the editing process since most of the audio wasn’t heard due to the wind, we had to record some of the audio onto a phone and upload it onto the the commercial. Another thing that we had to incorporate from the internet was a music sound file that we had to download and play over the voice over so it would seem like there is music playing while the person is talking.