Research and Planning:Focus group

Focus Group

This is my focus group to help with the planning for my video. I asked two of my friends Cat and Yasmin to take part in the focus group because they both fit into my audience profile. They both enjoy mainstream music but also like indie music which has a quirky side to it.

Research and Planning: Costume design

Puppet 1 (Sam)

To make this this dress we will need to buy a dress from a charity shop and then sew flowers, or similar creatures onto the top of the dress and alone the straps. We would also put netting underneath it to make the bottom poof out.

Wind up doll

I really

like this photo, it is inspiration for our 'wind up doll' costume idea. I feel this type of dress would suit the actor playing the wind up doll and also suit the style of the video, it looks vintage and quirky but glamorous at the same time.

The costume for our video will be difficult to create, I have drawn out what I want the finished actor to look like with sketches of the materials we will need. My friend has a degree in theatre make up and is very talented at making costumes. She said she will help me to create the costume.

I have looked on the internet at various charity shops such as Oxfam. Here are the different dresses I have found for cheap prices. We can customize the dresses, for example we can put netting underneath the dress to make the bottom of it more poofy. I really like this dress (shown below) because I think it would be really easy to customize and cutting the back to insert the cardbourd key would be simple with the shape of the dress. It is £15.50 so I will look for a lower priced dress, but otherwise I feel this is a bargain and we can do so many things to make it look good.

Timeplan

Photography for print work

Shooting the photo's for print work was easy due to good organizational skills. Jodie and I bought all the equipment needed before hand eg: face paint, party poppers. We then decorated the set accordingly before the models arrived, moving furniture and arranging the setting to look good. When dressing and doing the models make up, we tried different styles till we found the one which we liked best. Most of the models were easy to work with and came across really well on the camera. We got them to move around the set, try different positions and different angles.

Here are the best photos from the shoot edited on Photoshop:

I really like this photo because Sam's face looks flawless and there was hardly any editing needed. I like the pose and her eyes look really pretty. It reflects the style of the video we want to create and that character she will be playing is a sophisticated and confident woman which is what she reflects in this photo.

I really like this photo because it looks really natural and really fun. It also captures the essence of a party and it is similar to shots we want to do in the video.

I really like this photo because of the bright colours and natural posing. It looks like someone has just taken a picture during an actual party, which really comes across well on camera.

I really like the pose in the photo. Also the make up, wall paper and patterns on the shirt all work really well together to create a striking image. I am really pleased with all the photographs of Emily because they all look really natural and odd in an original and unique way.

I love this photo because of the flirty pose. Sam also looks really comfortable, she was really good in front of the camera and threw herself into the poses. I especially like the vintage wall paper contrasting with the brightness of the model. I used a brightening technique on this photo and shadowed the wall paper. I also used a slight contrast across her face.

I really like the pose on this photo because it looks strong and confident. The styling of the photo reflects the weird, unique and fashionable style Jodie and I wanted to create for the video.

This is my favourite photo of Emily. I brightened the photo and I love the way this gives it a dreamy, weird effect. I think the balloons look really good with the 'clown' styling and I feel it creates an 'Alice in Wonderland' style.

I really like this photo, I like the way Emily is naturally looking at her tin drum. It is an updated version of the classic children's toy, 'the tin soldier' in a modern, fashionable style and creates a quirky and fashionable image.

Setting shots

Here are photographs for the various places we will be shooting in our video, set up for the print work and as they would be for the video.

Costumes and props

Costume/prop item

Wind up doll

Dress - charity shop

Cardboard (to make the key)

Ballet shoes - Liv has some

White tights - Liv has some

False eyelashes - Tesco

White face paint - Milly has some

Red face paint - Milly has some

Puppet (Sam)

Red dress - Charity shop

White material - Charity shop

Hairspray - Milly has some

False eyelashes - Milly

White face paint - Milly

Red face paint - Milly

Blue eye-shadow - Jodie has some

High heels - Sam has some

Knee length socks - Jodie has some

Puppet (Em)

Wet look leggings - Aimee has some

Shirt - Milly has one

Braces - Milly

bow tie - Milly

ruffled collar - 'Rags' the material shop

Puppet (Leah)

Bright coloured tights - Leah has some

Shorts - Leah has some

Pink hairspray - Party shop

White face paint - Milly

Sam (Party girl)

Tight dress - Sam

High heels - Sam

Tights - Sam

Red lipstick - Sam

false eyelashes - Milly

The other 'party' members have been informed they need to dress glamorously. However, when they arrive at the set, Jodie and I will make sure they look right and re-do make up or clothes. I have lots of clothes which my friends can fit into and will have a wide selection on the day for each person.

Casting meeting

Instead of having a casting meeting, we decided to brief our cast via sending them an email.

Right then lads...

You stunning people have been chosen to be in our Media Studies video. Now, there are different roles assigned to each of you but you need to say if it is a problem for you to get to the shoot or if you cannot take part for religious reasons/you hate me. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE :) It will be after Christmas on a weekend but I just needed to brief you all so I know you are up for it.

The majority of you will be taking part in a party scene, which will take place in my garage. There will be expensive equipment in there, such as the big lights we are lugging to my house so you really cannot mess around else there will be no special snacks. Also, it is for our coursework, so if you do mess around we will fail miserably.

Sam Roberts, Cheung and Em will be acting as 'puppets' and we will get the costumes for you and tell you of the times and place you are needed. This is the same for Liv who is a 'wind up doll' at the start of the video.

This is the same for Sam, Leah Dennison, Roz, Emma Harrison and Emily Sparkes who will all be needed in the studio at some point for the 'narration' part of the video.

Here is a list of what you are all doing in the 'party':

Party people: Emma, Leah, Cat, Roz, Em, Pete, Jord, Sam Roberts, Leah Cheung, Jess Hill, Emily Sparkes, Sophie Milne, Beth Money, Louise Wilkinson.

Costume: For the girls, something you would wear to a party, preferably a dress and heels. THINK GLAMOROUS. Do quite heavy make up so it picks it up on the camera but if not then me and Jode will sort y'all out at my house.

There will be various shots of you dancing which will be slowed down to fit the song. Then there will be other shots of people, eg: people will be knocking back shots and others will be jumping on the trampoline and throwing food etc. We also need three girls to have a shot of them playing strip poker (obviously not naked) but if you arn't comfortable with this then that is fine.

You need to bring weird, random items such as a blow up crocodile. If you have silly string, fairy lights etc to coat my garage in this would also be useful.

Here are the videos we have gotten our inspiration from:

This is the song we are doing our video to:

Performers and Casting

Role

Wind up doll at the beginning of the video.

Who?

Liv Jones

Why?

Liv is really photogenic and a dancer, which will enable her to look good on camera. Her appearance also fits in with the 'unique' feel of the video because she has a unique image.

Role

Party girl/puppet

Who?

Sam Roberts

Why?

Sam is really pretty and very photogenic. She enjoys performing arts and is at ease in front of a camera. She is also a very good dancer and will not get embarrassed about having to dance in front of others. She fits into the 'glamorous' feel of the video and will fit into the role required. As well as being glamorous, she is really quirky which is why she will also look good as the puppet.

Role

Puppets in stop motion throughout the video

Who?

Leah Cheung, Sam Roberts and Emily Jones

Why?

All three girls have really unique appearances which will contrast each other nicely. They would be easy to dress up and will perform.

Role

Dancers in the party scene. They will also have other, individual shots where they will be acting out various scenes eg: Emily Jones will be playing poker and Emma Harrison will be jumping on the trampoline.

Who?

Jess Hill, Emily Jones, Rosie Hazel, Leah Dennison, Emma Harrison, Pete Lloyd, Emily Sparkes, Jordan Edge, Cat Jones, Leah Cheung

Why?

They are all really reliable, confident who will look good on the camera and be able to act well. However, I am concerned that because they are friends they will mess around and it might be harder to film good shots.

The Pitch

Post Pitch

The comments we received stated that they liked the originality of the idea, especially the weird costumes and entropic feel to the video. The audience felt that the video would suit our audience and perhaps engage an older, artistic audience. However, they did say that there would be a lot of organization involved with making the video and costumes. Therefore, we need to be really organized and plan everything thoroughly so that filming can run smoothly and efficiently. Also, we need to plan organization of costume by going to charity shops and making a 'key' for our wind up doll.