Statement of Intent

Here is my teams statement of intent 

Link: statement of intent file

Self Reflection: Again, this task was easy for us to accomplish as we all took part in completing it. Beforehand, our group had brainstormed ideas on what we wanted our music video to have, whether that was to subvert or conform to typical music video conventions; this then allowed us to remain on track with our genre and intended target audience. But what took us the longest time was picking what main idea we want our music video to be centered around, as again we all had our own ideas: some wanted a more bold character while some wanted a more soft character, which we will discuss as time passes during our project. Overall, we all decided to stick with a theme that revolves around love and relationships, with our intended target audience being teenagers or young adults, as it connects well with our overall theme. We focused on South-East Asian representation for our main artist in order to raise awareness because they are underrepresented in the media.

Research: Genre

Here is my research on genre conventions for our MV

Overall overview of typical genre conventions for Pop/Indie

Some media terminologies my Media Studies teacher (Mr Nick) taught my class about:

Genre	The way media texts are categorised
Sub-genre	A further categorisation of media texts within a genre
Hybrid genre	Mixing genres together (Rom-Com, Action-Thriller)
Genre Convention	elements, themes, topics, tropes, characters, situations, and plot beats that are common in specific genres
Code	Technical and symbolic tools used to construct meaning
Conform	Follow the standard practices
Subvert	deliberately contrast, oppose, invert expectations.

Genre (in music) is simply defined as its type of music. Its a way to categorize media texts by their type, style, or category based on similar themes such as pop, indie, R&B, rock, etc. According to Steve Neale's genre theory, genres are instances of generic codes and conventions being repeated in media products (music and music videos) and that genres are constantly evolving with each new addition. Due to music videos being the most effective medium in delivering messages towards the audience. 

Since I will be mainly focusing on pop/indie this genre I believe it has its own distinctive characteristics, conventions, and approaches compared to other music video genre's. Here is my focused research result on pop/indie genre music videos: 

Conventions

-> Pop relies on heavy performance based shots as it usually features a lipsync or dance routine

-> Indie on the other hand is more slow pace showcasing most of the MV's narrative

-> Both genres usually follow the narrative of a theme about 'love' as its whats most appealing towards young people

-> A link between lyrics and visuals are usually implemented 

-> In most cases the artist is shown as the protagonist and are always the center of attention in relation to their environment.

-> Direct mode of address when the artists is lipsyncing towards the camera 

Camera 

-> Close-up shots of artists or characters can highlight their style and emotions, fostering a connection with the audience.

-> Establishing shots to indicate the artists location or change of scenery

-> Long shots depict the artist's position in a scene.

Sound

-> Dialogue is occasionally used to introduce the story and concept of the music video, showing what the artist is trying to convey to the viewer.

-> Soundtracks are usually upbeat and mixed to highlight bass and high-tempo beats.

Editing

-> The pacing depends on the tempo of the music itself wether that being slow (montage) or fast paced (quick / jump cuts)

-> Cut to the beat helps create a visually stimulating experience as it synchronises the shot with the beat of the whole song

Mise-en-scene  

-> Pop music videos are usually staged in settings that surround an urban setting. In certain circumstances, settings like schools, gyms, or parks are often used to bring audiences closer to the artist, yet some may be extravagant depending on the artist's approach.

-> The outfits used by the artists are often stylish and current, reinforcing the pop genre's emphasis on style and beauty

-> The styling of hair and makeup are carefully chosen as it may depict and express the artists feelings and emotions 

-> Props are usually used which includes items like cars, mirrors, or neon lights to in order to reflect themes of success, romance, or nightlife.

-> The mood and ambiance of pop music videos is often bright and colorful.

Sources: 

https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/g324-media-studies-conventions-of-pop-music-videos/79494752

Nathan Zed on yt

In Depth Research

1. Music video (La La Lost you) 

Name: NIKI - La La Lost You 

Year: 2019 

Production Company: 88rising

Distribution Company: 88rising 

Genre/Sub genre: Pop/Indie 

What conventions does it conform to: This music video does conform to typical pop indie songs as it mostly uses a natural setting as the whole theme of the MV, such as city streets, apartments and public transportation. The performance was also very natural which allows the audience to relate more to the MV due the uses of lipsync and subtle acting. And since the MV focuses more on a relatable topic to her audience which is heartbreak as its common for both indie and pop songs. 

What conventions does it subvert: Unlike typical pop songs this MV doesn't use flashy visuals or performance driven scenes due to this MV focusing more on a personal narrative. Instead of up beat and high energy scenes it uses a more slow pace approach where it aligns more indie aesthetics and since it focuses more on subtle emotions and minimal to no choreography it allows the audience to feel more of the emotional atmosphere of the MV as the genre theory by Steve Neal states that texts must conform to typical conventions yet different enough to subvert them to keep it interesting which NIKI used throughout her whole MV because audiences would expect for the MV to be very sad with no happy ending as it starts off by NIKI being very heartbroken but overtime she found her happiness with her friends and new lover leaving her past memories with her ex lover behind and starting something new. 

What representations are there: This represents a lot of common heartbreak for young adults (17-20) as well as racial spread of casting. As most scenes were NIKI and her white ex lover having a hard time moving on even though NIKI's ex lover has met new girls such as both black and white races this shows the videos cast is quite representative of audiences, while the girl is still having a hard time processing it. Then again the characters themselves can't be said to hold any stereotypes of their own, since in this day and age, inter-racial couples have become completely normal.But, in the end the girl finally let go and had fun as she learns to open her heart for someone else but the guy becomes more lonely and just reminisce their old memories together (nostalgia). This also shows how the girl during the first half of the MV shows how she has trouble in doing certain tasks or gets reminded of the guy when doing something they used to do together. Though overtime each place that reminded her of their relationship became more normal in her eyes indicating that relationships take time to heal. Having the MV set in the city also allows helps create a sense of loneliness in a crowded atmosphere such as the girl seeing couples in the train while she was alone. 

What technical elements are used to give it meaning: 

Mise-en-scene

- outfits used were casual allowing audiences to have reliability on the characters used as it applies to what clothes we use in everyday life 

- NIKI was doing her performance in a public transportation (train) in a very dark and dim light which creates a sense of loneliness as all the background characters weren't paying attention to her and acted as if she wasn't even there

- we can assume NIKI was in New York due to her being in a subway line and we can see how NIKI patiently waits on the trains while waiting if her past lover will even show up

- NIKI's past lover also goes in the subway reminiscing their memories together through flashbacks indicating how much memories the subway line had for both NIKI and her past lover 

Camera

- medium and long shots used during the girl mc's heartbreak moments such as when her car broke down depicts the anger and sadness in her body movement and facial expressions allowing the audience to connect that feeling to her heartbreak. 

- medium shots were mostly used to portray the body movement of both NIKI and her ex partner by showing past loving memories in a bright vibrant colours with a joyful look on their faces but in comparison to dim lighting used to show how depressing New York subway was for NIKI's past lover and NIKI herself

Edit

- slow pacing to reflect the tone and theme the MV follows 

- transitions between locations in order to show the flow and time of their memories 

- slower cuts between each scene in order for the audience to feel more of the emotional connection each scene is trying to portray 

Sound

- during high climatic moments there were effects of non diegetic sound used to create impact during those scenes (thumping/quick pace/distorted) 

- in emotional scenes barely any effects were used other than the music itself wether that being silence or just the instrumental being put in  

2. Music video (Nonesense) 

Name: Sabrina Carpenter - Nonsense 

Year: 2022

Production Company: 

Distribution Company: Island Records 

Genre/Sub genre: Pop 

What conventions does it conform to: Performance was prominent in this MV as Sabrina uses lipsync as her main form of performance with hints of her dancing. The whole tone of this MV was also very colourful and bright with hints of  yellow tones (vintage) which allows the audience to feel a sense of excitement throughout watching it while still feeling that 2000's love vibe. As most pop MV's uses colorful visuals in order to reflect the upbeat nature of the song Sabrina was able to incorporate most of this by having the setting of the MV to be in a party or not in her room with her friends indicating the fun atmosphere this whole MV is trying to portray. The lyrics used also matches the visuals this MV has especially when the artist meets a guy from the party and when she was getting ready allowing the audience to know what the artist meant during those specific lines. 

What conventions does it subvert: Instead of having a deep narrative, this MV focuses more on a comedic storyline with Sabrina and her potential lover having a blast at the party they met together with one prominent line this MV has: "How quickly can you take your clothes off, pop quiz" suggesting a more fun setting and vibe. This MV also emphasizes playful romantic clichés, which show the fun side of meeting a guy, not in a serious traditional kind of love, as it’s less about a specific person and more about the fun they had during the night. Instead of typical celebrity glam with lavish outfits, makeup, and locations, Sabrina opts for fun and trendy outfits that are stylish but casual, making her appear more relatable to her audience as if she's going to an actual party with her friends.

What representations are there: Heavy emphasis on 'party boys' because they usually stereotyped to be bad guys; in this case, they are seen vaping and playing party games, meaning that they should be avoided, but the artist is shown having fun with him, implying that it is a nice night. The scene of this MV is also revealed to be at a home party, where the youth are having fun drinking, partying, and karaoke, emphasizing the carefree and youthful lifestyle full of fun, mischief, and humour, as it presents an upbeat perspective on life. Feminity is also emphasized by exhibiting the artist getting ready for the party with her friends, dancing, drinking, and taping each other, demonstrating how girls generally act before heading out to a party. However, the majority of the characters are white, which may reflect how American teenager parties were held in the 2000s.

What technical elements are used to give it meaning: 

Mise-en-scene: 

- outfits used were quite open showing that the artist is going out to have a fun night relating towards young audiences that usually go out to such events 

- we can assume the setting in a house as there are scenes that showcases them being in a neighbourhood with the event usually being called a 'house party' 

- the lighting was quite yellow and vintage which would make it seem that the MV was trying to depict a 2000's look allowing audiences to feel a sense of nostalgia with the props being used quite old such as the cars and cameras

Camera: 

- over the shoulder shot from the artists back to showcase her getting ready in the mirror 

- medium shot of the artist and her friends so that audience can still see their body language which is them having fun for a night out (dancing) 

- zoom to show the artist and the guy she met at the party which indicates that their having a good conversation through the crowds 

Edit: 

- quick cuts between each scene to match with the upbeat tone the song has enhancing the playful and carefree mood.

- cut to the beat was mostly used whenever the chorus comes up in order for each scene to match each beat the song has which allows the audience to be engaged when watching the MV

Sound: 

- many lyrics match the visuals as its very obvious through multiples scenes we can take one scene where it says "I caught the L O V E, why would you do this to me" which matches the artists talking with the guy at the party 

General Research

1. Gracie Abrams (I love you, Im sorry) - 2024

Genre/Sub-Genre?

Pop

Target audience, and how are they appealed too?

Teenagers to young adults (16-20 years old) using visually engaging content such as bright colours but with a more slow pace melody by having the instrumental being more prominent with summer/school aesthetics (contributed by the setting of being in a car, beaches, school auditorium and day to day minimal clothing ) with the portrayal of a more simple approach making their music video more intriguing to younger audiences.

What would you like to use in your music video from this?

I mainly liked how she used performance as the main part of her MV as most to all scenes involved her lipsyncing which I will mostly incorporate in my MV. The colour grading of this MV was also one of the more intriguing things that stood out to me because I liked how bright and colourful it was which allowed each setting of the scenes to play a crucial part in her MV.  

What would you like to avoid in your music video from this?

However many other elements were lacking in this MV because I didn't really understand the narrative Gracie was trying to put out. Due to her being happy yet the song was sad so it became very unclear, and there were no natural acting scenes making this MV not being the most relatable to the target audience is trying to attract since its about love but there were no love scenes just full on lipsyncing. 

2. Taylor Swift (You Belong With Me) - 2008

Genre/Sub-Genre?

Country Pop/Pop

Target audience, and how are they appealed too?

Mostly teenagers (12-17 years old) using a variety of visual elements (natural setting, tone, clothing) with a prominent storyline as it shows how a girl next door is in love with her neighbour but her neighbour already has a girlfriend creating a strong narrative of "the girl next door" keeping the target audience engaged due to them wanting to know how the plot will end. 

What would you like to use in your music video from this?

I liked a variety of elements from this MV but what stood out the best was the narrative and how it was used to connect it with the song/lyrics. As it made me wonder will Taylor win the guy or will she not, the use of performance was also very well planned out cause it didn't seem too little or too much to me. Even though this is a very old MV from the 2000's it's one of those MV's that keeps the audience engaged due to its straightforward approach. Because according to the Binary opposites theory by Levi Strauss, opposites drive a narrative forward and in this MV does so by having 2 characters being complete opposites of each other, the popular one with brown hair and a cheerleader (who cheated on her boyfriend) while the main character uses glasses and is a part of the band making her seem like the 'nerd' type. 

What would you like to avoid in your music video from this?

As all elements seemed very well thought off one thing I would add is by incorporating a better colour tone as some parts just doesn't connect well with one like in one scene where I thought that it was too yellow and this doesn't really have a flexible target audience to work with. 

3. NIKI (Oceans & Engines) - 2022

Genre/Sub-Genre?

Alternative/Indie

Target audience, and how are they appealed too?

Young adults (17+) having a variety of visual elements leaning more to a realistic/natural approach with a prominent storyline showcasing NIKI's past lover in every new memory she has in her life indicating that she's taking a long time to move on from it making it very relatable for her target audience. 

What would you like to use in your music video from this?

I liked nearly all elements of this MV because there was minimal performance but with a straightforward narrative, using crossfade cuts to distinguish the different timeline of each scene and how every new memory brought her back to her old one leaving it very nostalgic for the audience to feel. I also liked how it incorporated a visual effect by adding her text with her friends because even though it was very sad and mellow the MV still had a modern add on too it. 

What would you like to avoid in your music video from this?

Since I liked every element there wasn't really something I would avoid due to it being very relatable and hits deep for the audience. 

4. Reality Club (Am I Bothering You?) - 2023

Genre/Sub-Genre?

Pop 

Target audience, and how are they appealed too?

Young adults (17+) having a wide range of visual elements but emphasising on its editing as it has 2 actors from both modern world and back in the day black/white television days emphasising on how the character from the television was able to make the modern girl character happy creating a short love story though in the end they were both back with their original partners allowing audiences to understand the narrative making it feel more relatable. 

What would you like to use in your music video from this?

I mostly liked the narrative in this story because even though it was short it was cute while it lasted. Incorporating the black/white television editing and acting made the MV very creative which not lots of local Indonesian artists follow. Not only does this bring back the nostalgic feel to the audience this will also allow them to understand modern and 

What would you like to avoid in your music video from this?

Even though I enjoyed watching the MV and it was very creative I wouldn't think this is something that me and my team could possibly due because it seemed very high budget (outfit changes, acting, setting) and requires high editing skills due to it adding different aspect of modern and post moderns era being combined into 1 MV which is very time consuming. The narrative was also very unclear which made me have a hard time understanding what the main topic the MV was trying to put out. 

5. Stephanie Poetri (I Love You 3000) - 2019

Genre/Sub-Genre?

Pop 

Target audience, and how are they appealed too?

Mostly teenagers to young adults (14-20 years old) with minimal visual elements and straightforward scenes (day to day clothing with a vintage tone) as it just incorporated the characters day to day life with a certain someone in the background holding the camera suggesting that this certain "someone" is having a simple love story with the main character which keeps the audience intrigued to see their memories together. 

What would you like to use in your music video from this?

This is a very low budget music video as it was just multiple clips put together into one with an addition to a vintage tone allowing me and my team to execute something like this easier. I liked how it was very bubbly and outgoing due to the main characters acting making it seem like their having a blast allowing it to be more relatable. 

What would you like to avoid in your music video from this?

But this lacked many elements such as no performance, minimal editing and no narrative. Although it looks like a simple love story we never knew if it was really a lover which doesn't give a sense of excitement for the audience to watch it till the end other than the fact that there memories were cute together. 

6. Olivia Rodrigo (Deja Vu) - 2021

Genre/Sub-Genre?

Pop Rock/Indie Pop

Target audience, and how are they appealed too?

Teenagers (17+) with visually engaging content (day to day clothing, beaches, house, enclosed room) with addition of vintage editing during certain scenes. As this MV mostly used bright colours to portray the main character as a beautiful young girl but behind that she's watching another girl character becoming like her leaving the audience to wonder who is really who and what will happen in the end building the suspense. 

What would you like to use in your music video from this?

I liked how it incorporated different editing methods such as adding both characters in one scene even though its in different periods of time. Quick cuts off the main character watching herself and her copy in an old television frame and the scene turns to that scene in the television giving it a sense of realism which I will try to incorporate in my MV. And how the performance was at a beach really worked well with the characters whole persona, I also really liked the locations this MV used because they give off that beauty in nature setting. 

What would you like to avoid in your music video from this?

Although it was a creative MV and all aspected worked well together, this is a very high budget MV for me and my team to do. As there were many outfit changes and require different props which can be hard to get. Other than that every visual element worked together in this MV. 

Self Reflection: During this time around, I really enjoyed doing research on music video genres, as I myself find it fun to watch multiple music videos over and over again. It has allowed me to gain insight on what's the best method to learn all types of genre conventions, which made me more attentive to details throughout all kinds of music videos, as each video has its own characteristic/narrative that aligns with its artist's own persona and target audience. Analyzing similarities will allow me to figure out what I want to conform to or subvert in my music video later on. As before doing this task, I lacked knowledge on what typical pop/indie conventions were; even understanding the term genre itself was hard because many of its typical conventions aligned with one another, so it made me question, 'What made each genre different?" At first, me and my team wanted to go forward with the genre pop, but the songs that we were intrigued in were indie-pop, which made us even more confused until our teacher told us that indie-pop is a subgenre, not a main genre, which helped us clear most of our confusion. Even though this task gets boring and tedious, especially when I did the in-depth research, going forward it helped me establish the overall base genre/conventions my team will give us a lot of inspiration on what scenes we want to have in our own music video. So overall this research really helped me to narrow down the options of what scenes will most likely follow or add to creating a solid base idea. 

Research: Audience

Research: Industry

Here is my research on Industry 

1. Harry Styles (Adore You) 

Production Company: Freenjoy

Small description: internationally renowned creative direction and production company founded by Grammy award winning producer Nathan Scherrer in 2014
Genre: Pop
Other content they produce:
- Harry styles - Falling

- Ariana Grande- God is a Woman
- Taylor Swift - ME!

- The weekend - tell your friends 

- Megan thee Stallion & Dua lipa - sweetest pie

Typical audience:
- Teenagers to young adults (15-30+)

- Both male and female audiences

- US audiences as they mostly work with US based artists (english speaking audience)
Psychographics:

- Mature audiences (suggestive, sexual or gorey content sometimes shown)

Company size and age:
- 2-10 employees
- founded in 2014

Most successful product:
- No tears left to cry (2018) released on Youtube with approximately 1.2 billions views and directed by Dave Meyers as of Oct 2024

Resource:

https://www.freenjoy.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/freenjoy

https://imvdb.com/n/freenjoy-inc

2. Shawn Mendes (Nobody Knows) 

Production Company: Island Records 

Small description: Island Records is Jamaican multinational record label owned by Universal Music group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. They have launched some of the most influential artists in music history
Genre: Pop
Other content they produce:
- Keshi - Dream

- Sabrina Carpenter - Please Please Please 
- Bon Jovi - Legendary

- Shawn Mende - Heart Of Gold

- Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso 

Typical audience:
- Teenagers to young adults (15-40+)

- Both male and female audiences

- US & Uk audiences as they mostly work with US based artists but they also expand to other regions such as Asia and Africa
Psychographics:

- Mature audiences (gorey content gets shown)

- Variety of genres (pop, rock, jazz)

Company size and age:
- 227 employees as of 2024
- founded in 1959

Most successful product:
- "Mans Not Hot" by Big Shaq released on Youtube during 2017 with a total of 8.8M page views.

Sources: 

https://genius.com/artists/Island-records/q/most-popular-song

https://www.islandrecords.com/videos/page/3/

Self Reflection: This was actually one of those tasks that I didn't expect to do, as I never really delve deep into industries. It was good to get extra knowledge on how each media industry has its own theme on what music videos it produces. But then again, I'm not sure how this research is relevant to our project, as I know I wouldn't be going back to it as often as my main research because it won't be that useful once I'm going to move to the production stage of our project. 

Preliminary Research

 Here is my preliminary research for our MV

Self Reflection: This provided me with a broad perspective on several genres, which led me to diverse conclusions on which genre I would like for this video project. While most of these MVs were entertaining to watch, several were either dull or too graphic, so I didn't entirely like doing this task and since I had to quickly finish this research I think the result could've been better but I don't want to delve too into detail as its still our first general research. Nonetheless, I now know what I'm searching for in my MV and what I'd rather not follow.

Weekly progress & plan

Here is my weekly progress & plan for this project 

Week	Start Date		Task		Blogpost Title	Content	Deadline
W1	30 September	Pre Production	Research	1	Brief
				2	Team
				3	Weekly Progress
				4	Preliminary Research	Broad genre research	W3
W2	7 October		Research	5	Research: Industry	Who makes music videos?	W3
W3	14 October		Research	6	Research: Genre	Codes and Conventions of your genre	W4
W4	21 October		Plan	7	Statement of Intent	Your initial proposal	W5
				8	Theory of Stardom: Richard Dyer	A summary of the class, plus your example	W7
W5	28 October		Plan	9	Moodboard	Your visual style	W7
				10	Lyric Sheet	Breakdown your song into scenes	W7
				11	Storyboard	Shot by shot plan	W7
W6	4 November		Plan	12	Song Research	Background of your song	W7
				13	Screen Test	star auditions	W7
				14	Classwork	How to: Camera, MeS, Sound, Edit	W7
W7	11 November		Plan	15	Location scout & Risk Assessment		W7
				16	Filming Schedule	Film over the break?	W7
							W7

FIRST PHASE - RESEARCH AND PLANNING 

Week 1

We were introduced to our new brief for our component 3 music video project. As we haven't made a final group we started our preliminary research for different genres (conventions, audience, etc) in order to get a brief overview of what music videos we would like to do. So in the mean time I continued researching on different music video's that fit the genre I choose (pop/indie) such as the conventions, industry, audience, and others. 

To-do list: Finalise my group in order to get a fixed genre to research on 

Week 2

Had our finalised grouping which Im very pleased about, we continued with our research about our genre which is pop. However I gotten confused on genre and hybrid genre as the music vidoes we picked has multiple genres in them. Thus why we picked different music video's to research in order to get an overall overview of what we should do and avoid in our music video. We picked and found out the distribution and production company our main genre (pop) focuses on. 

Problem : Gotten confused on genre and hybrid genre as typical MV's have multiple genres 

Solution : Asked our teacher about the difference of the genres and sub genres in this case I learned that our team would use pop as our main genre but could have the sub genre indie-pop

To-Do list : Continuing my research on typical genre conventions 

Week 3

This week was pretty boring as we simply continued our research however, our teacher gave us a warning that we will be starting our planning by next week so it is a must to complete my reasearch by this week. So we focused on researching; preliminary industry, and in dept research of our chosen genre convention. 

Problem : Many upcoming tasks to plan and finish 

Solution : Created a note on my laptop and google calendar so that I can keep up with deadlines that are going to come

To-Do list : Finish my research on typical genre conventions and industry research 

Week 4 

This week we started on our statement of intent. As we already have a overall overview of our initial plan and idea this task was finished easily. Furthermore, we were introduced with a new theory which is the Theory of Stardom by Richard Dyer as it helps us determine our artists persona. As this helps me gain insight of how celebrities are initially constructed in order to relate to audiences and sell products such as films or music. 

Problem : As a team we had many ideas on how we want our artists to be so we had a hard time to figure out our statement of intent. 

Solution : Spent more time as a group discussing how we want our artists to percieve and how we will target our main audience to be intrigued with our artist

To-Do list : Finalise our statement of intent

Week 5

We had our final song choice which is "the weekend" by BIBI & 88Rising, then we started to create our moodboard for our music video and lyric sheet. Creating our moodboard was quite fun because it was as if were making collages however it seemed quite messy which we will fix later on, this just gives us an overall visual aspect of how we want our music videos aesthetic to be so that it stays constant. As for our lyric sheet we started brainstorming ideas on what scenes to use at first we used a piece of paper but Chelsea & Audrey decided to change it to a digital version so that we can all annotate easier in our own time.

Problem : Had a hard time starting off with our lyric sheet as we all had no idea how to start it off, as at first we wanted to keep the narrative straight forward but we wanted to subvert it by having a little twist in the middle

Solution : Spent even more time with our lyric sheet so that we at least have a general idea on how our narrative will play out in our MV

To-Do list : Continue team discussions as we still don't have a fixed narrative to follow 

Week 6

This week was fully project lesson so we tried to use our time effectively as our group wasn't done with our lyric sheet. Since our deadline was next week I tried to use this time to try and finish my other blog posts as I had some that were still empty so that I had less work to avoid cramming last minute. Furthermore, as a class we held a screen test to determine a suitable star for our music video although we didn't find anyone that fit the role, we did find our supporting actors from this screen test as some fit our narrative. This allowed me to have a tiny break so that I wasn't overwhelmed with all the tasks due. 

Problem : Many deadlines and our team had a creative stuck as we still had missing parts in our lyric sheet but then again we didn't know what to put as our narrative was quite complex

Solution : Tried to finish blog posts that were east to accomplish while watching more music videos to find inspiration of what scenes we can add to our lyric sheet 

To-Do list : Finish lyric sheet and new blog posts (classwork, screen test, location scout & risk assessment)

Week 7 

DEADLINE WEEK!! We had one final project lesson as we needed to focus on our exam revision. This is when we had to finish our pre-production stage which in my case for my group was very hectic. We finished our lyric sheet this week which took longer than expected, but our teacher was able to give us many new ideas on what to add since we had a hard time picking out some scenes. Our team was able to finish our location scout & risk assessment this week with our storyboard still on-going which had to be done quickly. We also finalised on who we want our artist and side characters to be and thankfully most of them agreed to do the role. 

Problem : Had many other deadlines this week so I had to manage my time effectively which was harder than expected. Hadn't finish some blog posts and storyboard 

Solution : Finish everything quickly by delegating tasks and letting everyone do their own work as most of our group tasks were accomplished. Even though this was done by rushing everything within the last 5 days

To-Do list : Finish storyboard, every unfinished blogposts, reflection

Pre-production reflection: Having this weekly progress & plan was really beneficial for me to track my project throughout the first half of this project and remind me of what I needed to finish for each week. This leaves me with goals I need to accomplish by the end of each week, which holds me accountable for each task that hasn't been done on time. Additionally, the checklist provided by Mr. Nick really helped me to track what blog posts were missing or weren't finished, allowing me to be a bit more organized. However, I believe I and the team could have worked more effectively, as we left 3 tasks to be done by deadline week, which left all of us panicked due to everyone having their own busy schedule from other lessons. In the future we should have a clear goal set from the start and have a specific deadline in mind because the one task that took us the longest was our lyric sheet, but I'm happy that ours was very detailed, which will probably give us more time to shoot each scene as we have the inspiration in our document as well. Nevertheless, I'm happy we got everything done on time, as now term break is getting nearer. 

SECOND PHASE - POST PRODUCTION AND FINALISING