COMP 3: Location Scouting & Risk Assessment

 A Level Media Studies

Here includes all the locations that we have collected, which we are likely to use throughout the production process of the music promotion package/music video. Also, results and proof of our location scouting are comprised. This blog is written by me (Sharon).

Locations Planning

For the locations we want to shoot our music video in, we have previously mentioned how the characteristics we want them to have are that they should be fun, exuberant, and thrilling. Thus we first brainstormed on some suitable places that we could feasibly shoot our scenes at.  These locations include:

• Gunung Payung Beach

• Hillstone Villas Resort Bali 

• Peninsula Island (Nusa Dua)

• Lapangan Puputan Renon

• Griya Alam Pecatu

• Tol Bali Mandara (an alternative for Alam Raya Pecatu Road - car scenes)

We considered factors like safety and attainability, which means for scenes where we want to show our artist in a car, we don't want to be shooting her as she drives down a busy and fast-paced highway (The best example of which, in Bali, would be Jalan Tol Bali Mandara), so instead we chose an equally wide and accessible road that is far less crowded and far safer (Jalan Kura Kura Bali). For our idea of shooting in a villa, since renting out a villa would be extremely cost-inefficient, we decided to contact one of our actors who owns a chain of villas and resorts and thus decided to film our villa scenes at Hillstone Villas & Resorts Bali. For our Parks and Beaches, we did some research on the most scenic and easily reachable beaches and parks in Bali, where we found the Peninsula Island Park in Nusa Dua, and the Gunung Payung Beach, also in Nusa Dua. The proximity of the locations will allow for the logistical planning of the shoot to be far easier as well.

Location Scouting

To confirm this, we also scouted the locations and decided that they indeed matched our expectations. Here are some photos we obtained from scouting out the locations:

Gunung Payung Beach

Location Assessment
Purpose of the shoot:	Music Video; playing and having fun
Media Language:	Lighting - Natural sunlight (bright daytime) Sound - Laughter, music, waves crashing
Pros of Location:	Great view, variety of colours
Cons of Location:	Crowds, difficult-to-control variables (e.g. weather), stairs, proximity
Alternative location:	Jimbaran Beach, Nusa Dua Beach, Melasti Beach

Risk Assessment: Potential hazards may include the vast number of stairs (anything can happen, e.g. fall) and sharp objects may be on the sand as it is a beach. We could tell the crew to always wear sandals, plus, the heavy equipment might become a hassle going down the stairs. However, we could contact the beach and ask if they provide any sort of transportation to get us to the beach. We should also choose a time and day that the least amount of people would be there to avoid them pacing back and forth in our videos.

Hillstone Villas Resort Bali

Location Assessment
Purpose of the shoot:	Music Video; them getting ready
Media Language:	Mise en scene - Natural sunlight (bright daytime), sunset Camera - Wide angle, establishing shot, drone Sound - Laughter, music, Editing - Warm colours
Pros of Location:	Great view, variety of colours
Cons of Location:	Crowds, difficult-to-control variables (e.g. weather), stairs
Alternative location:	Maxi’s house

Risk Assessment: The drive to the villa may become a hassle as we would all get there by car, where the roads are long and narrow. We could all help each other out and perhaps bring the least number of cars as possible.

Griya Alam Pecatu

Location Assessment
Purpose of the shoot:	Music Video;
Media Language:	Mise en scene - Natural sunlight (bright daytime), sunset Camera - Wide angle, establishing shot, drone Sound - Laughter, music, Editing - Warm colors
Pros of Location:	Scenic, well maintained, part of a residential area s
Cons of Location:	Uncontrollable weather
Alternative location:	Serangan, Jalan Tol Bali Mandara

Risk Assessment: Potential hazards may include cars going back and forth the complex which could risk our performers, and crew, as well as the shoot itself being time-consuming and time-ineffective since we might need to re-take when cars pass by. As for the crew and performers, the performers will be driving the entire shoot at Griya Alam Pecatu, so they must be extra careful. To avoid these problems, we could aware the performers drive slower and look for a secluded area.

Peninsula Island, Nusa Dua

Location Assessment
Purpose of the shoot:	Music Video; having fun, picnic
Media Language:	Mise en scene - Natural sunlight (bright daytime), sunset Camera - Wide angle, establishing shot, drone Sound - Laughter, music, Editing - Warm colours
Pros of Location:	Wide space, variety of colours
Cons of Location:	Crowds, difficult-to-control variables (e.g. weather), stairs
Alternative location:	Lapangan Renon

Self Reflection: Making a list of possible filming locations, and therefore scouting them would help my group in the long-term for this project. This is to avoid choosing the wrong locations, or unsuitable filming locations, by which we may need to search for other locations in that situation (time-consuming and holding back our production). Also, the locations we have chosen as a team are all discussed to resonate with the music video's overall aesthetic, and all roles are distributed fairly and equally since we all did the research at the same time. I hope the scouting of locations can be done effectively and upon schedule so we can begin our production process as quickly as possible. I can gladly say that we have chosen the right locations as at least one of us has visited these places previously. However, one problem we encountered was the external factor of weather. As our production will be done in January to February, with rainy weather in Bali, production may be held back or we must search for other locations that are indoor just so production will be entirely done by the submission date. So, all we can do during this time would be to hope and wait for good weather and be more flexible on villa scenes as they're mainly indoors. The next time we decide on the schedule, we must consider both internal and external factors to prevent any setbacks in production.

COMP 3: Permission Email

A Level Media Studies

This blog shows the permission email (written by Maxi) to the artist's record label for approval to use their music in our music promotion package project. This blog is written by me (Sharon).

We have chosen Sabrina Carpenter's song, 'Feather', for the music in our music video. I (Sharon) volunteered to do the research on which record label Sabrina was under, that is the Universal Music Group. After all, I found this link 'https://www.universalmusic.com/contact-us/' which states the email to whom we can contact to permit a license for this Comp 3 project. The email address was licensinginfo@umusic.com. Maxi then wrote the request email as follows:

However, we did not get any responses back from Universal Music Group, but we decided to go with it as long as it is being used for the right reasons.

Self Reflection: Although we didn't get any replies back from Universal Music Group, it felt like it was the right thing to do before using this on our Comp 3 project. It was also due to that it didn't feel right to use property (their music) without sending a request beforehand. However, it allowed us to take accountability for using the song for the right reasons and in a professional way despite not receiving any response back from the record label. I also understood better how to research for certain information, in this case, to whom we send the email to. We learned to acknowledge the need to request a license permit from private corporations the next time we have a project that involves using their property, such as music.

COMP 3: Storyboard & Screenplay

A Level Media Studies

Here is our music promotion package's storyboard and screenplay (for the music video). The storyboard was made by me (Sharon), whereas the screenplay was done by Maxi. This blog is written by me (Sharon).

Timeline Development

Before creating the storyboard and screenplay, my group and I decided to print Feather's lyrics sheet and annotate (the task that I volunteered to do, but discussions were done as a group), such as scenes per line/verse. This would help guide and ease the process of developing the storyboard and screenplay - saving a good amount of time. Also, this annotated lyrics sheet can and will be used during our production process as a major guide when filming each scene (having a rough idea).

Self Reflection: Annotating the lyrics sheet will assist the production process for my group as we can have a rough idea of how each scene will go and save time in ways of an effective production process (ideas don't just come up on filming day). Further and other improvisations can be done during filming along with the cast. Additionally, this provides me (Sharon) and Maxi a practical guide when creating the storyboard and screenplay (wouldn't take much of our time to simply figure out on our own of each scene). This task was done as a group and everyone contributed fairly, such as pitching in innovative ideas, since we had 2 project lessons to complete this. However, my personal task in this would be annotating the lyrics sheet, which I very much enjoyed. One challenge and problem for us was figuring out what was best to do in verse 2 (annotated with a question mark, which we came back to later on). Nonetheless, we have decided to do a flashback scene, featuring the star's ex-boyfriend, due to that it was simply for a short duration. Before starting on this task, I was quite worried that we wouldn't have been able to complete this in 2 project lessons. Regardless, with my team and I's effective discussions, active participation, along with help from our Media Studies teacher, we were capable of finalising it. I am happy to say that I am impressed with our ideas for each and every scene since they aren't repetitive and creative, which greatly resonates with our overall concept.

Storyboard

The storyboard below was drawn by me (Sharon), however, other members would give me additional details/ideas, and guide me throughout the way in cases where it was difficult for me to visualize. I have chosen to organize them verse per verse to ease the follow-through during both drawing and utilizing the storyboard in production.

Self Reflection: I volunteered to wholly work on the storyboard as I was also the one who did the storyboard in Comp 1. Some challenges I encountered include time management, and having a hard time visualizing objects from certain angles. However, I still managed to complete the storyboard before term 2 ended (which avoided holding back my group in continuing with the production process), and I utilized Google to search for images in those angles/positions. As seen, only the intro is neatly done, this is due to that I had to colour each box, measure the sizes of each box and ensure they're all equal in size took a huge amount of my time (time-consuming). Hence, I have decided to simply do a sketch for the following scenes and lines. Moreover, a storyboard mustn't require always be coloured and neatly done for us to understand, especially in a music video. Last year's project (Comp 1), the film opening, it was necessary to be detailed and neat as we were working on a film production. The next time that I'll be working on a storyboard, I will ensure that I start weeks beforehand in cases where it must be detailed, organized, and neat. During this task, I surely felt overwhelmed as I was having a hard time focusing, which left a few of the boxes empty for a while. Nonetheless, it felt rewarding once I've slowly completed each and every box. A storyboard, I believe, will guide my group during the production process where we might need visualisation of each scene (in cases when we have forgotten what goes on in that scene). With that, it could help in effective filming as it would be less time-consuming to decide what the cast should do from zero.

Screenplay

The screenplay below was entirely made by Maxi. This was made to ease the production process (easier to visualize in cases where the storyboard and the annotated lyrics sheet as shown above couldn't provide much detail).

Self Reflection: Having a screenplay (which was entirely written by Maxi), could ease the production process to extend our visualisation instead of simply having the storyboard and the annotated lyrics sheet. At first, we believed that a screenplay for a music video production was unnecessary, however, we decided that we should be prepared in all possible ways.

Nonetheless, as we filmed all the scenes, there were lots of improvisations we made on-set as expected since we were able to act them out realistically instead of simply visualizing, which was what we did when creating the storyboard and the screenplay. That enabled us to get the best shots for the music video as a whole.

COMP 3: Technical Skills (Online)

 A Level Media Studies

Here are the online technical skills that I've acquired throughout this music promotion package project. This blog is written by me (Sharon).

Embedding PDF to Blogger

As the statement of intent (table guide) was given via Google Docs, I had to work on it there, where simply copying and pasting it into Blogger would present a messy look. So, I tried publishing the document (in Google Docs) to the web, copy the embedded link, and paste it into Blogger. However, as I enlarged the size of the box as much as possible, it still appears really tiny and is fixated as shown below.

However, after many attempts, I decided to look for a video guide on YouTube with guidance from my Media Studies teacher, and found one that explained it clearly and all through and through titled, "How to upload pdf and related file on blogger || how to upload documents in blogger ||" as inserted below. Here are the steps that enabled me to embed PDF to Blogger:

1. Download the Google document as a PDF
2. Click "Share" once uploaded to Google Drive and copy the link of the PDF document. Ensure that "Anyone with the link" has access
3. In the blogger page, open up the "HTML" view right under the title (click the pencil icon)
4. Paste the link
5. Remove "usp=sharing" and change "view" to "preview"
6. Add the code <iframe src=" " width="640" height="480"></iframe> and insert the PDF link into the "src=" "
7. Click "Publish"

The updated link should look somewhat like this now.

Now, it can be viewed easily as the box is larger and the entire PDF document is presented.

Google Drawings

Throughout my school years, I wasn't familiar with Google Drawings as none of my subjects needed it up until I had to compile pictures from this Comp 3 project. One of the most recent ones was compiling all the trials/mock-ups for the digipak cover. I couldn't find any other website that enabled me to gather pictures neatly, so my teacher suggested Google Drawings when I reached up to him about the problem. Organized and aligned pictures allowed me to compare all the trials more effectively side-by-side instead of scrolling through Canva (the site we used to edit them, such as the fonts/typeface and pictures). Moreover, I could simply download the file in Google Drawings and upload that to my blog post on the digipak development all in one picture (instead of 10 separate pictures where you must scroll a long way down).

Unzip '.zip' Files

Related to the 'Google Drawings' technical skills that I learned, I was facing problems in uploading the pictures I downloaded from Canva of the digipak covers. This is due to that the downloaded file was in '.zip' form, which I have never encountered. I first tried to open the files one by one in WinRAR format, but it was too time-consuming. To not waste any time, I've learned that YouTube is the best way to find solutions to technical problems. The link below was the YouTube video I got help from after searching 'How to unzip files':

 

However, I found simpler ways since some of the pop-ups didn't show up on my laptop. Here are the following steps that I have concluded:

1. Create a new folder
2. Move the '.zip' file to that folder
3. Right-click the '.zip' file
4. Click "Extract Here"

Creating a new folder for the '.zip' file

Right-click the '.zip' file and choose "Extract Here"

All the files unzipped

Embedding Instagram Post to Blogger

To improve the appearance and organization of my blog, I chose to embed the Instagram post which was quite self-explanatory (I was able to find out how on my own instead of YouTube). The following steps are what I did to embed an Instagram post:

1. Open the Instagram post on Instagram web: instagram.com
2. Click the 3 dots in the corner of the Instagram post
3. Choose embed
4. Change your blog post setting to "HTML view"
5. Paste the embedded link

Self Reflection: Embedding PDF to Blogger was quite a problem for me since I have never encountered coding before (by which this situation can be fixed through coding), however, with a wide range of YouTube videos, specifically for this problem, I was able to find one. The video was explained really well and ensured that we understood every step of the way. I was afraid that it still wouldn't work out, but, as I followed the steps thoroughly, I managed to solve the problem. Now, with a well-viewed embedded PDF, readers can look through the statement of intent with ease and apparently. I was satisfied with how compiled images turned out with Google Drawings since organization is key to effective viewing. I felt worried seeing '.zip' files as I've never encountered that format before, but YouTube assisted me throughout the problem and gave me a satisfactory solution to it. The next time we face technical problems, I can assure my group that we can always check YouTube for solutions.

COMP 3: Actor/Performer Screen Test

 A Level Media Studies

Here are the screen tests that we did on several people as a part of our casting development. Timo was the one who both recorded and edited the videos attached below. This blog post is written by me.

To Do: Screen tests of other casts

Screen Test 1

Below is our screen test for the main star (singer/artist) where she was informed to lipsync the chorus. The recording and editing were all done by Timo.

Self Reflection: The screen tests that we did were to guide my group better in deciding who to cast as our star. This was done by having them lipsync several lines from the song, 'Feather'. It would benefit my group and this project effectively in the long term since we could choose the most suitable person and avoid having to change the person last minute, which would really be time-consuming and inefficient. As Timo was the one recording and editing the screen tests, we (me and my other group mates) reminded him to send them as soon as possible and upload them to Google Drive to ease embedding them into Blogger. We encountered a problem which was finding the right time to do the screen tests since none of our schedules are likely to not align with those we have listed. Therefore, as stated only Timo worked on the screen test, that was due to only his schedule aligned with theirs.

COMP 3: Star & Casting Development

 A Level Media Studies

Here includes the development of the star's name, the choosing of our cast members, along the reasons for our music promotion package (the music video). Everyone was involved in the discussion for every element explained in this blog post. However, Maxi was the one who phrased the reasonings for each. This blog is written by me (Sharon).

Artist’s name:

Since we wanted our artist to be a female of Asian descent, the name of our artist had to match her ethnic background. Thus, we discussed some potential aesthetically pleasing Asian girl names. However, since we also needed to cater to English-speaking audiences, we didn’t want to extend too far into our artist's cultural heritage. Hence, we focussed more on more mixed (caucasian/Asian) sounding names, with a Western first name, and then a more Asian-sounding surname. We decided on sticking with a “first name - surname” naming format as it is what the majority of artists in the pop genre, and female artists as a whole tend to have as well. However, we also experimented with shortening versions of these names as well, and seeing how they’d look with different capitalizations, as these are also commonly seen forms of stage names for female artists of the genre. From this, here are a few names we initially thought of:

• Kiara Bel

• KIARA

• Isabel Tan

• Isabel Kim

• Isabelle

• BELLE

• Jasmine Wang

• JMIN

• 伊莎贝尔

Cast:

The idea of what we want our Artist to be like has been stated in our statement of intent, which states that we want her to be a fun, outgoing, and humble individual that fans can relate to and feel as if they’re just like them. Since we also want her to be of Asian descent, we discussed potential actors who fit the aforementioned trop, who also look conventionally attractive, as most female artists in the music industry generally conform to modern beauty standards. For this, we decided on the following individuals who we could see being our artists:

Artist (Lead Female): 

- Jasmine May Riadi

- Eugene Evelina Nugroho

As mentioned in our statement of intent, we wanted our music video to follow our artist and a group of her friends as they go out, have fun, and make unforgettable memories. For this, we want to have a primarily female cast, as after breakups, girls will often find solace and comfort in a group of her other girlfriends, instead of a group of guy friends. Thus to accurately represent this, we want to cast girls who will fit into the group of our artists, for which we originally decided on a list of actors who are already friends with each other in real life, and will thus most likely be able to accurately portray the chemistry found in tight-knit girl friend groups, since they already have that dynamic. They are also friends of our team, which will make communicating, planning, and convincing them to be a part of the project far easier. The names of these actors are as follows:

Artist's Girl Friends:

- Elvina Laurencia Ryanto

- Chelsea Graciella Liem

- Eugene Evelina Nugroho/Jasmine May Riadi
- Keyla Lisgianto Josono

- Nayana Sumaniaka

- Giann Fico Suwangsa

Artist’s Ex Boyfriend (Male Lead): 

- Han Hyun Woo

- Nicholas Gerwin Mawardji - Gede Danny Putra Budiada

Self Reflection: The lists we have made for potential casts allow my group to broaden our options and ensure that we will choose the right casts in all imaginable ways so their chemistry can be presented in the best way possible (will be easier to deliver the theme/message of the music video to audiences). As for the star's potential names, my group and I have compiled all possible names which expand our choices and decide which is best, such as through pronunciation, design, alignment with our theme, and simplicity. For this task, I searched for some Asian surnames and pitched in name ideas. One challenge we encountered was the decision-making for the star's name as we may have had too many possible names. However, we have decided on the name "KIARA" at last. The screen tests that we did were to guide my group better in deciding who to cast as our star. This was done by having them lipsync several lines from the song, 'Feather'. It would benefit my group and this project effectively in the long term since we could choose the most suitable person and avoid having to change the person last minute, which would really be time-consuming and inefficient.