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I have started and continued editing my footage at college using Final Cut Express. I am finding it fairly easy to use but I really want to edit my footage at home and I have had real problems doing this. I tried import the footage onto a massive SD card but when I looked at the footage at home, the footage didn't upload to my editing software (probably because of the file type). The way I will combat this is to continue editing at college and hope that it works out. If there are any problems, I will possibly look into buying a DSLR after extensive research.

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I have produced my first draft website and digipaks. They were not as good I was hoping to be because I was continuing the research and planning phase along with creating the products so I believed they suffered in that sense. I will gain target audience feedback to see what they believe could be improved for the products.

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I have recently completed some filming. What I have learnt from the filming session is that I maybe need to buy a camera of my own so I can edit the footage in my own leisure. Personally, I don't like the industry cameras so I will look into buying a DSLR because they can produce very high quality images; pictures and video. This will hopefully influence my future filming because I can simply use my own editing software at home which I deem to be easier to use than Final Cut, even though my software can produce many fades, filters etc.

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I was originally a part of a group but I decided to go it alone because I had faith in my own ability to construct a viable and good set of Media products.

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I have practised using the industry camera to get a feel of how to use it for my final production. I also tried out the tripod to play around with; I did this so I know straight away how to put together all my items. What I have learnt from doing this is that I know all the various settings to use regarding the camera so I have no problems with production. This will influence my work because on the day of filming, the work flow will be a lot smoother because I know how to use the camera and set up the tripod.

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I have completed several versions of my hand drawn drafts. I completed these hand drawn drafts with the intention of my final products having some resemblance to them. What I have learnt by creating these hand drawn drafts for my ancillary products is the various layouts I intend to use for my actual drafts. This will influence my work because I will use these drafts as a guide with my final construction.

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I have had a meeting with my actors and showed them my pitch, with an extended plan of what I intend for the music video. This went extremely well because I know that they're good actors through my auditions and they detailed any concerns they had which I explained to make sure they follow my 'vision' of how I want my products to look once fully constructed.

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I have completed a costume and props list for all of my products to conform to the conventions of the alt rock genre. I did this by completing an interactive YouTube video detailing all the equipment and props I need to use for the products. From my analysis of primary research, the artist wore dark clothes and that influenced my list because I wanted to conform to the genre.

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I have completed some further planning in an attempt to create a coherent feel between my products because of clear brand identity links. What I have completed includes choosing my location choices; this was important because I must appeal to the target audience's ideologies through the use of urban scenery. I also created risk assessments of various locations because assessing danger is very important so there are no problems in the production phase.

Blog Entry - Final Concepts

My final concepts throughout my three products have been constructed through my initial planning and my initial planning feedback from my primary target audience. To begin, the consistent colour scheme throughout my three products will be black, white and grey (black being the dominant colour) because that was the most popular answer from my feedback and it conforms to the conventions of alternative rock - black/dark colours stereotypical of the genre. The colour scheme will be used throughout the digipak and website homepage to create brand identity and give immediate recognition of the genre. The colour scheme could create brand identity with the music video, too, if in the video the artist wear black clothes.

The name of the artist will be 'GU22' because that was the most popular answer from my target audience feedback. I believe 'GU22' was the most popular answer because the majority of the target audience are from South East England, and being from the region they would recognise that it's a postcode. This could give the target audience 'personal identity' and 'regional identity' because they are from the area. The name of the artist isn't so important but as long as the name doesn't go against the conventions of alternative rock, there shouldn't be a problem. Should I decide to change my artist from a band to a solo, I will most likely change the name of the artist to their own name. Brand identity will be created because the name of the artist will be consistently used throughout products.

For my images and contrast of video I will use a black and white filter to create brand identity throughout products. This was the most popular answer from my feedback sheet and it creates cohesion with the song choice because it's very slow and uses 'depressing type lyrics'. A black and white filter has become a popular choice in the genre of music as a whole, and my style model 'The 1975' use a black and white filter in almost all of their videos.

My narrative storyline of the video will surround a female that leaves a male randomly and he wakes up to find a note explaining that she's leaving. He consults his friends on the matter and in the finale of the video he throws a picture of her in the water to suggest moving on. This was the most popular answer from my target audience feedback and it follows the lyrics of the video well to create cohesion. Although, it doesn't follow the lyrics solely because it would be boring and uninteresting to follow the lyrics solely.

Finally, my website and digipak layout will be simple in contrast to a 'crowded' layout because that was the most popular answer from target audience feedback. An example of a simple digipak and website layout is The Arctic Monkeys which I analysed earlier in the project. Also, I will use images of the artist on the front cover in contrast to a logo because an image of the artist is more visually interesting/appealing, conforming to the ideologies of the target audience from my initial audience feedback.

So overall, these are my final concepts for my three products but they could develop/change if any opportunities or problems arise.

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I have completed a more complex, creative storyboard through the use of YouTube. I scanned my hand-drawn storyboard into the computer and created the interactive storyboard through Windows Movie Maker. What I have learnt is the various aspects that will create my narrative; an example being that a girl leaves a boy a note. This will influence my ideas because I can use this video as a core idea for how I actually want to construct my final music video.

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Today I have produced a rough, hand-drawn storyboard. I did this by simply sketching my initial ideas into a storyboard format and the I scanned the work and uploaded it to my blog. What I have learnt is a core idea about what my narrative could be and this links to my lyric/image video because I learnt my early ideas from that. This will influence my work because I know roughly the type of narrative I want to portray; I want to portray a female that breaks up with her boyfriend because of various reasons. The narrative covers the boyfriend's struggle to get over her.

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Because I am on my own, I didn't need to apply for any roles within my group. However, I do have my own non-official production team so I will need to assign roles to certain members to help me with my production. For example, my co-producer Joe Dixon will help me direct and film my music video and order my actors where to be and what to do. Another example is that Sam Oswick, a Media Studies expert, will help me consider lights and position lights where they deem appropriate for the performance aspect. Obviously, because it's my own project, I will take a share in every role but will specialise in filming and editing to create the final products.

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I have completed my initial planning for my three products. What I had to do for this was create three ideas for each product with the idea of getting target audience feedback at a later date. What I have learnt from my initial planning is that for my music video narrative, I have three ideas which I will gain feedback on. Another example of what I've learnt from my planning is that I need to decide whether to have a 'messy' or 'simple' front cover for my digipak. This will influence my construction because I will gain target audience feedback and find out their ideologies, so I can conform to their preferences. Overall, their opinions are the most important of all.

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I have completed my lyric/image video. I did this by initially annotating a sheet containing my lyrics to see whether I could gain any initial ideas about how my music video should be produced. I then created a video through Windows Movie Maker using images and adding lyrics in the overlay; I then uploaded the video to YouTube. An example of what I have learnt is that I could consider a theme of depression throughout my video because of the lyrics depicted in the song. An example of how this will influence my ideas is that, unless there are problems, my story will most likely surround a male and a female - it will be a sad story.

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I have just completed my initial audience research; I did this by creating Survey Monkey questionnaires and conducting interviews which I uploaded to YouTube. Firstly, what I have I learnt, for example, is that my target audience are from the age demographic of 16-25 so I must appeal to their ideologies. An example of how this will influence my ideas is because I learnt that my target audience prefer a mixture of both narrative and performance in a music video, so I will definitely conform to this preference.

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I have a completed my analysis of primary research. What I have learnt from completing this task were various conventions and stereotypes relevant within an alternative rock music video. The video I chose to analyse was Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? By The Arctic Monkeys and a few examples of what I've learnt include that many artists within the genre wear dark clothes to conform to the conventions of alternative rock. Another example includes that the editing pace matches the pace of the music to create cohesion. This will influence my work because for my own music video I will use dark/black props for my actors to conform to the conventions of the genre. Another example about how this will influence my work is that my editing pace will probably be fairly slow to create cohesion with my song choice.

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Song choice options:

*The 1975 - Me
-The 1975 - Undo
*Oasis - Cast No Shadow
*Chain Gang Of 1974 - Sleepwalking
*Ken Dogs - Indie Teens

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