Photos from filming session 22/10-Production

Pitch (planning)

This is the section of the pitch that I presented.

Section 1A of exam Questions 13, 14, 15. - Planning

13. How do you plan to use digital technology in the production of your 3 products?


Digipack
In the production of my draft digipack I used a digital camera to take pictures of the types of photos I wanted to include in the draft digipack ranging from shots of our music artist to shots of locations that will be seen in the music video. I then used photoshop elements to edit the pictures after uploading them to the Apple Mac computer and then I exported them to Quark XPress and formed them into 6 basic panels including the front and back covers. I then uploaded the draft digipack to logger over the internet and blogged about it. Since the digipack I did is only to show a basic outline of the types of pictures I will be using in my digipack I did not include much detail.

Music Video

In the production of the music video we will be using Apple software such as Final Cut Pro to edit the music video and HD cameras to shoot the footage. To collect the raw footage we will have to use film cameras with the occasional use of tripods and extra lighting equipment to light a scene is necessary. Once we have filmed all the shots we need then we will upload them to our hard drive and begin editing them on the Mac computers in Final Cut Pro. 

Once we have synced the lip movements of the footage to the actual song we can begin cutting and editing all the footage together. Once this has all been completed it will need to be rendered and then converted into a viewable format by using Quicktime conversion which is a tool available in Final Cut Pro. Once converted we can then upload it to our blogs or copy it to a DVD for later playback. 

The Advert

The advert will also be made using Quark XPress and uploaded to blogger through the internet where we will blog about it and how it serves to target our main audience. 

14. How have you used conventions from real media text in your planning? 


When we planned out our shots for the music video we made sure to use a wide variety of shot types and angles this brings an element of surprise that is evident in almost any music video and always keeping audiences guessing on what is coming next. It was also important to make sure we would get a lot of close ups of our artist's face so the audience can clearly identify with her and perhaps even have her glance at the camera for that extra emphasis. This is something we also learned from watching other music videos.

In my digipack I made sure that the front cover had a clear image of our artist including with multiple other shots of her on the interior panels so the audience can easily identify the CD cover as being the artist's at first glance. I also wanted to go for a rather simple digipack but still vibrant with the natural colours of the photo enhanced in Photoshop to stand out more. With a digipack it is all about catching the audiences attention and drawing them to that particular artist when the digipack is placed among hundreds of other artists' digipacks in  a store. The style and content seen by the consumer also helps them identify what kind of genre that particular artist might be related to.

The same can be said for the advert. It too needs to draw in audiences by catching their eye and this would mean again making it vibrant and colourful. The advert will also need to display whose music it is representing so a large picture of the artist will also need to be included in the advert and key things like her name and the name of her song and where it can be bought from and when it will be released. This is clearly the norm in almost every advert.

15. What have you learned about research and planning a production, compared to AS? 

I've learned that the whole process of researching and planning is far more complicated and in-depth than in AS. For example with music videos each group has had to come up with different ideas and research different types of music because of the multitude of different genres and almost every group has chosen a completely different genre from the other. We as a group have had to study the norms in the music videos of our genre and come up with unique ideas that would make ours different but still reflecting the genre of the music.

There are a lot more shots required in a music video compared to a thriller that we did in AS. We have had to plan scenes that incorporate almost every shot type there is from extreme close ups to long shots and this requires a lot more time for story-boarding. We have also had to pay more close attention to the mise en scene that we are going to include in our music video from clothing and props to the surrounding scenery, although they were important in the thriller it is more obvious here as they compliment the artist and help build an image of what the artist is like and in a way helps the audience feel more engaged with him or her.

Also there is the Digipack that needs to be done and done in such a way that it relates to the music video and draws in audiences and enables them to identify with it. This is different from a thriller where as in a music video we really have had to identify our target audience and what appeals to them.

Draft of digipack - planning.

This is a draft for my digipack. I decided to keep it simple and to emphasise that the singer playing the instrument herself as the focal point. Also, the font is in helvetica, I chose this font because it is big and bold and doesn't take away attention from the artist, but adds attention on her name.
I thought it would be a good idea to have the artist at the front and back so that the audience can familarise themselves with her. She is dressed in casual clothes, which makes her easy for the audience to relate to, as even though she is a pop artist, it's more of an indie pop.
     The name, KT Tunstall is not the name that will be used, I just haven't thought of a fitting name for the artist yet. I made the error of only doing the front and the back cover, however, this will not happen when I am doing the proper digipack. In the middle panels I intend to have location shots and shots from filming. 

Practice Digipack (planning)

Here is the outer cover. However in the real one I will also need to create the inside cover and possibly more panels. However this is a layout and design of some practice that I got with the programme.

Draft of My Digipack - Planning

This is an example for my initial ideas for my digipack consisting of a lot of pictures of our music artist and the shots that she would be in. I am likely to change the pictures and the style when I come to do my real digipack.

In my final digipack I will also be adding in all the copyright pictures and the serial code for the back cover and also the track listing for one of the interior covers but I will be putting all that in when I have all my pictures that I am definitely using for my final digipack in order.

Audience Task (planning)

This is Ann. Ann is 20 years old and studies a English degree in Cambridge university. She enjoys the fine arts, theater, sketching and horse riding. She has a laidback lifestyle and spends her time walking and enjoying scenery, reading fictional boooks and reading magazines. She enjoys travelling and visiting cities with history and culture. She enjoys eating healthy foods and is a strict vegan because of her love of all animals. She enjoys the nightlife and enjoys the odd glass of wine, but is a very responsible drinker. She plays many instruments including the guitar, piano and flute.

Her love of this music is because of the relaxed laidback approach that it has, which goes well with her personality.

Production Schedule - Planning

20th October

Filming the opening sequences.

22nd October 

Filming the multitude of different female close-ups. 

23rd/24th October

Filming on site at Covent Garden for the market scene and Regent's Park.

27th October

Either repeat of the previous filming of opening sequences if necessary for extra footage. If not then we start filming the street scene at Oxford street. 

29th October

Same here again if we need to achieve more footage for the close ups then we will continue with this. If not we will move on to the street scene at Oxford Street.

3rd November

Draft Video edited and finished.

5th and 9th November

Extra footage is filmed if necessary.

12th November

Filming ends and Editing begins. 

26th November

Editing finishes and music video is completed. 

Section 1A of the exam

13. How do you plan to use digital technology in the production of your 3 products?

Music video

In the music video, we will be using HD cameras to shoot the footage. Once we have finished shooting we will then use the SD cards to upload the footage to our hard drive. Once uploaded,  we will be using editing software, Final Cut Pro to edit the music video.

When shooting footage, we will also be using, tripods and lighting when necessary. 
Once we have finished editing, the video will need to be rendered and converted to quicktime and uploaded to the blog. 

Digipack

For the practise digipack, we took some sample shots, these shots are somewhat unrelated to the video, but as these are only sample shots we will be using a digital camera whilst filming to get "behind the scenes" photos and on set location shots that could be included in the digipack.
For the sample digipack, I used photoshop elements to add text and the barcode and also to have the two pictures side by side. Whilst making the real digipack I may use photoshop elements and I will also be using QuarkXpress to form a 6-8 panels. Once finished, I will upload it to the blog as I did with the sample digipack and there may be a brief explanation of how it appeals to the target audience, and what the aim was. 
Below is the sample digipack.

Advert
The advert will be made using QuarkXPress, upon completion, it will be uploaded to blogger  where we will talk about how it would appeal to our target audience. 

14. How have you used conventions from real media text in your planning? 

While planning shots for the music video, using an array of shots was key. The array of shots keeps the audience interested and adds to the perspective of the video. As well as using an array of shots, close up shots are shots that need to be used frequently as they allow the audience to identify with the artist. The artist looking directly into the camera makes the audience feel like she is talking directly to them.

In the digipack the front and back cover are of the artist so that when someone picking it up, the first thing they will see is the artist and her name and will be able to make a snap judgement about if they like the artist based on her appearance or not. As our audience is very wide, most people would identify with the artist as she is a dressed casually and isn't wearing piles of make up she is simple normal, just like them. The colours and the font of the writing draw people in as the font is big and bold, the colours are bright and aren't too artificial and it looks like a nice area she is in.

The advert too needs to draw the audience in by catching their eye. Again, using the same colour scheme as the digipack so that all three products link together, each reminding one of the other. The advert would need to feature the artist in as otherwise, the audience may not know who it is, also if they are seeing the advert before they have seen the music video or the digipack, they would need to be able to make the judgement on the artist.

15. What have you learned about research and planning a production, compared to AS? 

I have learnt that, when planning for a Thriller film you need to conform to the conventions that a Thriller film has; and when researching, ideas are created from the research and it also teaches you about what to do and what not to do.
The same principles of learning from the research still apply, but even more so as with music videos they need to fit their respective genre and if it is not done well then it can end up looking bad. 
With A2 the the planning must be done extensively and throughly as if not done, when filming and editing, you will not know what to do and where the story of your video is going.
I feel that the research that has already been done has helped a great deal as with our music video, it is in the genre of indie pop, but it doesn't exactly fall into those genres. With this genre it is like if the BBC made pop, this is what the result would be. It isn't like regular pop videos where the girls are made up and are wearing little to no clothing doing choreographed dances; That's where the indie element comes in.
As a group we have had to study the genre to come up with ideas that will show our video as an original video, but it will still conform to the genre. 


In our Thriller film, we didn't need an array of shots as some of the shots just wouldn't work with what we were trying to achieve. For the music video, we need lots and lots of different shots to keep the audience entertained and to fill the gaps of the pace of the editing. Extreme close ups and close ups are essential as it is an artist therefore the video needs to focus on the narrative (if there is a narrative) but even more so on the artist's face as that is what the audience will identify with.

With the thriller and the music video, mise en scene are still very important aspects as the wrong type of clothing, could send the wrong message to the audience. For instance, as the genre of our song is indie pop, the artist needs to be dressed in casual clothes and not too revealing, the artist also needs to not be wearing too much make up and suitable shoes. An importnat part of our mise en scene is a guitar. The artist writes and plays her own music, the use of a guitar will reflect this. 


The digipack also needs to be done in a way that conforms to the genre just as in AS. The digipack allows the audience to take another look and the digipack should remind them of the video and make them want to watch the video again and again. Certain elements of the digipack need to be the same as the music video, such as the setting and the same clothes.  This will remind them of the video. 

Pitch Section 1A of Exam-Planning

13) How do you plan to use digital technology in the production of your three products?

Digital technology plays a large part in the production of my three products.
Firstly, the video camera not only will film the music video itself but it will be used to document feedback from both people who are watching it and for the group to reflect on how each filming day went and what part we all played in the production of it.

The digipack will be made using software Quark Express on the mac computers and for editing the images before importing them Photoshop software will be used.

The advert will be made using similar software to the digipack.

14)How have you used conventions from real media text in your planning?

We have used conventions from real media text in planning by getting ideas on how to and how not to execute certain shots.

We found a video after planning our locations and storyboard that was a remake of the song that we chose KT Tunstall "Suddenly I See". It was made in America and they chose to use a lot of zooming and it was done awfully in retrospect. The lip synching was not great either and the work was out of focus a lot and when it came back into focus the shot was almost over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB9HnV7Zpfg

We came up with the idea of a certain edit that we would like to use which makes the shot like a book so it flips. We were aiming to use this when we do a montage of faces for "her face is a map of the world".




15) What have you learned about research and planning a production, compared to AS?

The research and planning for this A2 production is a lot more in depth for that of the AS year.
The AS year's production was a title sequence for a thriller. Therefore, the research consisted of mainly looking at other thrillers and their title sequence. The shot count for this product was around 50-100.
This year we have had to look at dismemberment in videos and narrative structures so that our video matches our song choice. As well as this we have to plan a lot more shots and locations in case some ideas fall through. The shot count for this production is around 200 or more because the shots are generally cut to the beat and as we have to cover 2 mins and 30 seconds we have to fill a lot more time.We also have to plan the edits that we may use for each shot depending on the genre.

Pitch-Planning

For the pitch my job was to look at location/setting,costume and some specific shots/edits.

This is my powerpoint presentation.

Below are some images of locations that we intend to use for filming.

This was my idea for a digipack.

Risk Assessment

An environment unfamiliar to crew involved.

When we film at the many different locations, many of which we have not been to before or for the length of time we are expected to be there all crew must observe the surroundings and make a mental note of busy roads and pavements that could be a cause of injury if not spotted early on. 

Filming in poor lighting locations.

When we film in locations either late in the day or indoors in a darkened environment all crew must know collectively where all equipment is at all times and take extra care when moving around the set as they may trip and fall or damage equipment accidentally. It is advised to use a small light source when moving around to see where they are going and to halt all movement when filming is underway. 

Awareness of surroundings when filming. 

When actual filming is underway all crew must be aware of where the camera is going to be moving and compensate the placement of extra equipment and themselves so they don't have to move about if it is suddenly required midway through filming and this could cause injury under the circumstances. The director in particular must make sure he has a path clear of equipment for him to concentrate on the angles of the camera especially when it is a handheld shot.

Filming in an active environment. 

When filming in an environment that has any level of pedestrian or road traffic the crew must be very careful when setting up shots and actually filming and where they leave the equipment. They can avoid the possibility of injury by avoiding the pathways of the traffic as much as possible so as not to obstruct the flow and cause injury to either themselves or others.

Using powerful lighting equipment.

Extra care must be taken when handling lighting as to not drop them when moving to different locations as the shattered glass from a broken bulb could injury someone quite badly. It is better to put them in special bags with plenty of padding to protect the lights. Also after use crew could burn themselves if they touch the bulbs directly that have been on for a long time during filming so it is advised to not touch the bulbs directly and let them cool down before packing them away and moving them. 

Shots of Potential Location- Planning

The shots below are some of the places in central London that we were thinking of filming.

Audience Member Profile

This is Annesah, a 19 year old female student who studies fine arts at university and she works part-time at a large arts store. She is English and half Arabian.  She would buy her groceries from Tesco and  she is often on the internet during her free time or listening to music or out with her friends at a bar, club or concert. She reads the guardian newspaper most days and the New Music Express magazine. As she is a student she often takes the bus around and more often the underground. The types of gadgets she has are of the norm being a mobile phone, laptop but she has a DSLR camera since she is an arts student at university. She isn't that concerned about the type of brands she is associated with because if she sees something she likes in any shop she simply buys it and she does most of her clothing shopping in the high-street. Her favourite type of drink is Jack Daniel's mixed with Coke because of all the good times that she has associated with it and her friends. She also often goes to Malaysia for holidays because of the brilliant scenery and beaches and the exceptional nightlife there. She is likely to like this band because of her no worries approach to life, she is cheerful almost everyday and so is the type of artist and the song we have chosen. The type of band fits perfectly with her personality.  

Final Song Choice

The Final song choice for our video is Suddenly I see by KT Tunstall. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AEoUa0Hlso&ob=av3e

In here original music video a very large part of it is animated with her interacting with this animated world. It is very colourful and vibrant and almost childlike in a way. We see her as a larger than life person in a small colourful world and we see how some of the buildings instead of having windows are in fact speakers and this could show what makes the world go round is music and is a big part of life.

 Our video will be unlikely to have much if any animated aspects because we want to go for a more realistic video although we will still keep the very cheerful mood that is present in the original. We will also be using a lot of iconic locations in our music video and concentrate heavily on our editing between these locations and between different shots in a creative way. Our music video will also have a main character in it which will be Hannah but there will also be a lot of sub characters who will be there and will be vital in a key part of our music video. Like the original there will also be a wide variety of shots from extreme close ups to long shots similar to the original video.

Audience member profile

This is Leah, She is a 20 year old student from Camden. Leah enjoys reading, listening to music and hanging out with friends. She likes to eat healthily, she shops at Waitrose where she can get quality fresh food. Leah when it's not raining, rides her bike as a form of transport. On days it's raining she takes the bus or train, whichever is quicker. She shops for clothes at high street stores such as H&M, Topshop, River Island and Urban Outfitters. Leah likes to keep up to date with popular culture, this is one of the reasons she likes this kind of music. She also believes that too many women are subjected to dismemberment. The singer of this song is a female and she is represented as being her own person and doesn't show too much skin to appeal to men, she also wears very little make up and isn't edited to make her "more beautiful". Leah likes this music because of what the lead singer represents, normal women, she also likes it because it is easy to listen to and sing a long to and is very catchy.

Video we found-Research

We found this video after planning our shots and locations and it basically has some of the ideas that we chose to use.

Mood board (planning)

Our mood board was part of our planning. This displayed what we planned for our video. For example the props, the shots and creative idea's that showed the mood of our song.

Here are our photos:

Final song choice

Our final song choice was 'Kt Tunstall - Suddenly I see'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AEoUa0Hlso&ob=av2n

The video is a cheerful video represented by colourful schemes and crazy animation. Our video will have less animation and be more real life. This video has her in a car, however our will have her walking and doing things, and ours will focus more on scenery (real life).  It will have a similar structure and narrative  but with a little illustration as we feel that any other type will just not go with the song, however this will be achieved through completely different creative idea's. Ours will also have transitions and much more shots.  With the people included, our will have much more people in it rather than just one and we will also have shots of famous landmarks.

Animatic-Planning

Review student video (research)

This is one video which I admired.

Adam, Lisa, Nasima & Sayvita from 283goswell on Vimeo.

This video seemed to be aimed at a very wide audience ranging from all ages and all different types of people. The music was alternative genre. The video itself had a vague narrative which was mainly spreading a message of Love. This was represented through people stood holding signs of Love and medium to close shots that showed the sign. There was also representation through props and mise en scene such as the heart shaped earrings. There was also clever editing done with the colour which turned all the colours to black and white apart from the colours red which were kept the same. This is because of the common belief that red is a colour of love. There was also plenty of different cuts and shots which went in time with the beat of the song. There were slide transitions and clever angled shots which made the video even more professional.

Vladimir Propp Theory (research)

Narrative structure

Vladimir Propp extended the Russian Formalist approach to the study of narrative structure. In the Formalist approach, sentence structures were broken down into analyzable elements, or morphemes, and Propp used this method by analogy to analyze Russian fairy tales. By breaking down a large number of Russian folk tales into their smallest narrative units, or narratemes, Propp was able to arrive at a typology of narrative structures.

[edit]Functions

After the initial situation is depicted, the tale takes the following sequence of 31 functions:^[3]

1. ABSENTATION: A member of a family leaves the security of the home environment. This may be the hero or some other member of the family that the hero will later need to rescue. This division of the cohesive family injects initial tension into the storyline. The hero may also be introduced here, often being shown as an ordinary person.
2. INTERDICTION: An interdiction is addressed to the hero ('don't go there', 'don't do this'). The hero is warned against some action (given an 'interdiction').
3. VIOLATION of INTERDICTION. The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale). This generally proves to be a bad move and the villain enters the story, although not necessarily confronting the hero. Perhaps they are just a lurking presence or perhaps they attack the family whilst the hero is away.
4. RECONNAISSANCE: The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance (either villain tries to find the children/jewels etc.; or intended victim questions the villain). The villain (often in disguise) makes an active attempt at seeking information, for example searching for something valuable or trying to actively capture someone. They may speak with a member of the family who innocently divulges information. They may also seek to meet the hero, perhaps knowing already the hero is special in some way.
5. DELIVERY: The villain gains information about the victim. The villain's seeking now pays off and he or she now acquires some form of information, often about the hero or victim. Other information can be gained, for example about a map or treasure location.
6. TRICKERY: The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim or victim's belongings (trickery; villain disguised, tries to win confidence of victim). The villain now presses further, often using the information gained in seeking to deceive the hero or victim in some way, perhaps appearing in disguise. This may include capture of the victim, getting the hero to give the villain something or persuading them that the villain is actually a friend and thereby gaining collaboration.
7. COMPLICITY: Victim taken in by deception, unwittingly helping the enemy. The trickery of the villain now works and the hero or victim naively acts in a way that helps the villain. This may range from providing the villain with something (perhaps a map or magical weapon) to actively working against good people (perhaps the villain has persuaded the hero that these other people are actually bad).
8. VILLAINY or LACK: Villain causes harm/injury to family member (by abduction, theft of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc., comits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides nightly torments); Alternatively, a member of family lacks something or desires something (magical potion etc.). There are two options for this function, either or both of which may appear in the story. In the first option, the villain causes some kind of harm, for example carrying away a victim or the desired magical object (which must be then be retrieved). In the second option, a sense of lack is identified, for example in the hero's family or within a community, whereby something is identified as lost or something becomes desirable for some reason, for example a magical object that will save people in some way.
9. MEDIATION: Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc./ alternative is that victimized hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment). The hero now discovers the act of villainy or lack, perhaps finding their family or community devastated or caught up in a state of anguish and woe.
10. BEGINNING COUNTER-ACTION: Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action. The hero now decides to act in a way that will resolve the lack, for example finding a needed magical item, rescuing those who are captured or otherwise defeating the villain. This is a defining moment for the hero as this is the decision that sets the course of future actions and by which a previously ordinary person takes on the mantle of heroism.
11. DEPARTURE: Hero leaves home;
12. FIRST FUNCTION OF THE DONOR: Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc., preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);
13. HERO'S REACTION: Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers against him);
14. RECEIPT OF A MAGICAL AGENT: Hero acquires use of a magical agent (directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, eaten/drunk, help offered by other characters);
15. GUIDANCE: Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search;
16. STRUGGLE: Hero and villain join in direct combat;
17. BRANDING: Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
18. VICTORY: Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished);
19. LIQUIDATION: Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revived, captive freed);
20. RETURN: Hero returns;
21. PURSUIT: Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
22. RESCUE: Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero transforms unrecognisably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life);
23. UNRECOGNIZED ARRIVAL: Hero unrecognized, arrives home or in another country;
24. UNFOUNDED CLAIMS: False hero presents unfounded claims;
25. DIFFICULT TASK: Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other tasks);
26. SOLUTION: Task is resolved;
27. RECOGNITION: Hero is recognized (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
28. EXPOSURE: False hero or villain is exposed;
29. TRANSFIGURATION: Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc.);
30. PUNISHMENT: Villain is punished;
31. WEDDING: Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).

Occasionally, some of these functions are inverted, as when the hero receives something while still at home, the function of a donor occurring early. More often, a function is negated twice, so that it must be repeated three times in Western cultures.^[4]

[edit]Characters

He also concluded that all the characters could be resolved into 8 broad character types in the 100 tales he analyzed:

1. The villain — struggles against the hero.
2. The donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
3. The (magical) helper — helps the hero in the quest.
4. The princess or prize — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. the hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain.
5. her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished.
6. The dispatcher — character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
7. The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
8. False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.^[5]

These roles could sometimes be distributed among various characters, as the hero kills the villain dragon, and the dragon's sisters take on the villainous role of chasing him. Conversely, one character could engage in acts as more than one role, as a father could send his son on the quest and give him a sword, acting as both dispatcher and donor.^[6]

[edit]Criticism

Propp's approach has been criticized for removing all verbal considerations from the analysis, even though the folktale's form is almost always oral, and also all considerations of tone, mood, character, and, anything that differentiates one fairy tale from another. One of the most prominent critics of Propp is the famous French Structuralist Claude Lévi-Strauss, who used Propp's monograph on the morphology of the Folktale to demonstrate the superiority of the Structuralist approach, and the shortcomings of the Formalist approach. (see Levi-Strauss, Claude. "Structure and Form: Reflection on a Work by Vladimir Propp"). Defenders of Propp believe that such criticisms are largely redundant, as Propp's approach was not intended to unearth meaning in the fairy tales he examined (as may be the case with Structuralist or Psychoanalytic analysis), nor to find the elements that differentiate one tale from another, but to unearth the elemental building blocks that formed the basis of their narrative structure.

Information from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Propp

Here is a video that I believe uses some of the elements of Propp's theory. In particular in the beginning with Absentation then beginning counter action then wedding and rescue all incorporated. 

Digital Storyboard-Planning

Final Song Choice

The Final song choice for our video is Suddenly I see by KT Tunstall. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AEoUa0Hlso&ob=av3e

The Suddenly I See video by KT Tunstall is very cheerful. The song is upbeat and easy to sing along to. The video is very cheerful too, the colours are bright and there is some animation. Our video won't have any animation. We plan to focus more on the scenery as we live in London, it is easy to get to sight seeing places. We want to have lots of different people involved in this video to make it really fun and energetic. Our video will have a similar structure to this video though it will differ.

Audience-Planning

This is Rosalia Liotti she is a 19 year old Italian woman currently living in Haringey.

Despite being a student at a local university Rosa runs a boutique that was bought for her by her parents as a new years present.

Rosalia goes to the farmers market for all of her groceries after all she'll have nothing but the freshest and best ingredients. In her spare time she likes to practice her flute and be artistic in the drawing room. She doesn't read the newspaper as shes favours the latest Grazia every time.

As she appreciates nature but likes protection Rosalia likes taking the train to where-ever she is going so she can see her surroundings even if she is not suffering the elements.

Rosalia has many gadgets but of all she favours her phone which is personalised with crystals. She loves the clothing styles of Chanel after all elegance is a must when one is a student however, she often buys her clothes from Zara and Banana Republic.

Her favourite drink is a Berry Frescato from Costa it makes her feel energised and happy. When holidaying she enjoys Southern France and Marbeya.

Rosalia enjoys KT Tunstall's track "Suddenly I See" because it's very lively and happy which reflects her perfect bubble of a world.

Research - Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp was a Soviet formalist scholar who studied narrative structure first in Russian folk tales.

He identified 31 different functions that follow the sequence after the initial situation is presented.

1. Absentation
2. Interdiction
3. Violation of Interdiction
4. Reconnaissance
5. Delivery
6. Trickery
7. Complicity
8. Villainy or Lack
9. Mediation
10. Beginning Counter-Action
11. Departure
12. First Function of the Donor
13. Receipt of a Magical Agent
14. Guidance
15. Struggle
16. Branding
17. Victory
18. Liquidation
19. Return
20. Pursuit
21. Rescue
22. Unrecognized Arrival 
23. Unfounded Claims
24. Difficult Task
25. Solution
26. Recognition
27. Exposure
28. Transfiguration
29. Punishment
30. Wedding

These are his functions as stated by Vladimir. However some of these functions can be switched around if needed and one function can often be repeated multiple times in a single narrative. 

Vladimir also identified 8 different but broad character types in the 100 Russian tales he analysed:

1. The Villian 
2. The donor 
3. The helper 
4. The princess or prize
5. Her father 
6. The dispatcher 
7. The hero or victim/seeker hero
8. False hero 

However Vladimir Propp has been criticised for removing all verbal aspects that differ in each tale during his analysis.

This video 21 questions by 50 Cent and Nate Dogg has some of the elements identified by Vladimir Propp. For example the main character 50 Cent leaves his home, the place where he feels safe and comfortable. This is ABSENTATION. Although we do not explicitly see it we also get the impression that the hero has been warned to not go to prison and we understand this subconsciously through the conversations and the expressions of fear and sadness from his girlfriend who he calls from inside prison. This is INTERDICTION. We also come across the villain who we immediately see when our hero is in transit to prison where the villain is dressed in black and harassing the hero. This is VIOLATION OF INTERDICTION. However the villain does not perform any RECONNAISSANCE, DELIVERY, TRICKERY or COMPLICITY. We do see VILLAINY towards the victim, although it is hard to say who is really the victim or hero in the video because from one point of view we could see 50 Cent's girlfriend as being the victim of losing her hero and from another point of view we can see 50 Cent as the victim having ended up in prison and looking to his girlfriend for support and as a heroine. We see the character that harassed our hero during transit to prison now get into a fight with the hero. This could also be STRUGGLE. As we near the end of the video we come across LIQUIDATION where the audience finds out that the prison was all in the hero's head and his fear of it. This is resolved when he realises that the police have not come for him. There is then VICTORY when the villain is defeated by our main character seeing him being taken away by the police from the opposite house and also PUNISHMENT as we know that the villain is going to prison.

In this video we only mainly see the main functions identified by Vladimir and some of the others such as RECONNAISSANCE and DELIVERY where the villain tries to exploit and manipulate the victim are not seen as this would probably make the video too long as a music video.