Progress Report

We drove to Audley End house with all our equipment and camera ready to film. However, when we got there we were unable to film due to shortage of staff for supervision. This meant we could no longer film in the chosen location. But we realised we could not waste a whole day and we needed to film- luckily we had a back-up location at Little Easton Manor. We filmed some of our shots at Little Easton Manor, and then filmed the rest in and around Newport, as we realised lots of the locations were desirable and fit with our narrative and genre. We used the HD Camera to film all of our shots, and changed the sound and colour settings accordingly. We managed to get all of our performance shots finished, and majority of our narrative shots. The last few shots we needed to do were shots of our boy in the video. We arranged to do this tomorrow.

Digipack Font Research

Many existing Artists digipack fonts are very feminine and wavy, however some are also quite bold and clear, relating to the minimalism and stripped back nature of Country music. The girly pop influence has changed the image slightly, and this reflects in the digipack fonts. Below are some suggestions. One thing I have notices, is that Country Pop singers tend to sign there name on there albums. The album name, and Artist name are often in a font that appears to be handwritten, I will research various ideas.

Risk Assessment

While planning for our music video, we must counter in a risk assessment for when we film the video.

• We will make sure all transport to Audley End is arranged in advance, so that we are able to get to our desired location.
• We will have to make sure we wear appropriate clothing, and appropriate footwear, as we are in a forest area, and it may be wet and slippery.
• We must make sure we remember all our technical equipment-camera, dolly and tripod. 
• Some of our shots are next to the fountain, so we must take precautions to make sure the equipment does not get wet, or someone doesn't fall in.
• We must make sure that all location props, e.g, benches are secure and safe before using them in our video. 

Progress Report

All planning is up to date, and Shot list's are finished. This will enable us to film successfully tomorrow, and any alterations or changes will we record and post up after filming tomorrow. We aim to start at 11.15, and finish by the end of lunch (2.05)

Editing Research

There are many elements in existing videos that I have picked up upon, and decided to use in my music video. These include, close up's, slow motion, cross dissolves, and jump cuts. To enable myself to edit my music video and be able to use these micro elements, I decided to give myself a head start and watch various tutorials.

Costume and Props

Costume and Props on Prezi By Natasha Beaumont

Weather Forecast

To ensure that we can film on our chosen filming day Friday 9/12/2012, I researched what the weather forecast is, so that we can be sure there will be no drastic weather conditions that do not fit with our narrative and shot list. Th results show that we are able to film on Friday, and the weather conditions are ok.

Progress Report

In today's Lesson, we have rented out our Camera, Dolly and Tripod ready to film. We have decided to film on Friday (9/11/2012) 3rd and 4th period, as well as lunch-this will give us a good stretch of time to get most of it done. In class we finished our shot list, and storyboard on final cut express-this will help us when we start filming.

Back Up Location

Lia and I initially thought that Audley End Gardens were our best option, and would fit our narrative, and the theme of our video perfectly. We are still on track to film here, however incase anything prevents us from doing so, we have a back up- Little Easton gardens. The location is very similar to Audley End, and it would be a picturesque place to film our video. Below are some photos.

Possible Shots

After looking at many different music videos based around our genre I have made a list of shots that we can consider using as they are similarly used throughout music videos from the Country and Pop genre. 

These shots are:

- Close ups of face, both lip syncing and not lip syncing. 

- Long shots of the main actress and actor

- Shots that pan outwards whilst in some sort of movement- so walking and running

- Shots from windows, these are very pensive shots and reflect the lyrics of our song so this idea and our song would go well together. 

- Shots not looking directly at camera, looking down and looking outside

- Tracking shots of the girl singing across one side to another. 

- Shot of girl out of focus then goes into focus

- Fading a person in a shot/ out of one

- Many shots of the scenery we are shooting to make it more clear to whoever's watching the sort of place they are at. 

- Sweeping shots that circle the girl around her 

Digipack Analysis - Dolly Parton

The digipak I have chosen to analyse is Dolly Parton's album 'Hungry Again.' The reason I have decided to choose a Dolly Parton digipak to analyse is because I have found that a lot of her digipak's conform to the 'Country' genre.

On the left is the front cover to Dolly's album 'Hungry Again.' As we can see, the front cover conforms to the typical 'country' genre in several different ways; the setting of the picture - with Dolly sat on a swing and the blurred backdrop of the countryside behind, the clothing that Dolly is wearing - denim dungarees with a black over-sized shirt underneath and brown leather boots on her feet, and her hair - the way in which it's platted reflects and conforms to the 'cowgirl' image. Despite the typical conformities of country pop in this picture, it is still very natural and bare, and it puts emphasis on Dolly herself. I believe that this picture portrays a sense of purpose and individuality, which is something that can be seen amongst a lot of country artists within the genre. 



The text on the front of the digipak writes Dolly's name in a feminine and angelic calligraphy font, that is easily lost in the background of the photo, drawing the audience's attention to Dolly even more. This is significant in reflecting Dolly's presence as a well-known Country performer, showing that she has her own style and isn't afraid to show it. The text for the album title is actually written in bold capitals, a complete contrast to how Dolly's name is written. Although the title font is like this, it does correspond to the title itself 'Hungry Again,' which is quite a deep and emotional phrase, something else that conforms with the country genre as many country songs were about personal and meaningful topics.

Dolly's clothing and hair in this picture reflect a stereo-typical 'cowgirl' image. Many people would not see this as 'normal' or 'casual' clothing to wear on a day-to-day basis, but in this case Dolly looks very comfortable and casual, really emphasising the individuality of her presence. Dolly's hair also reflects a typical 'farm girl' type image, with platted hair being a popular hairstyle amongst females that worked on farmyards and in stables.The clothing she has on in the picture is very typical of country and western music and similar fashion styles can be seen amongst other country musicians, modern and older artists alike. 

The back cover to the digipak shows a different layout to the one on the front. Overall, the back of the CD digipak is quite bland, not interesting to audience members and is very minimalistic in comparison to the front. However the section that says 'Dolly Parton Hungry Again,' which is written in the same font as Dolly's name is on the front, presents itself in such a way that it looks like it's been personally written by Dolly herself and conforms to the individuality that I previously mentioned. This gives the audience the feeling that they have a connection with Dolly through both her music and on a personal level. In the bottom left hand corner of the CD digipak cover you can see that under the 'Produced By' section it lists Dolly Parton as one of the producers of the album, this is a great way to show the audience that she is a serious musician and is involved with music as much as she can be. This also shows that she isn't someone who hides behind media and fame, and portrays an image that shows that there is no in-between - it is just her and the music. At the very bottom of the digipak cover there is a list of different legal terms that state the production company and other legal terms that relate to copyright of the music.

On the left is another photo of Dolly, this time it has a totally different aura to it. She is looking into the camera as opposed to away from it, and looks more fresh-faced than she did in the previous photo, but this is probably because it is a close-up of her. She is seen to be smiling into the camera, reflecting a positive and happy image and adding to the personal connection with the audience - making the audience feel as though she knows the audience on a personal level. The way she is sat in this picture, up against what looks like a wooden building or a barn, again conforms to the 'country' genre conventions and reflects upon the 'cowgirl' imagery that she seems to be portraying on this digipak cover. The way in which the photo has been edited also adds a slight glow to Dolly's face, which gives off an angelic vibe and links into the positivity in which the photo is giving off. Again, in the background we can a blurred image of countryside which gives the impression that she could possibly be on a farm or a ranch, conforming to the conventions of the country genre.