Miss Georgiou - Storyboard

There are a number of purposes behind creating a storyboard. In the case of my group and I, they were used to plan the filming of our music video. This is a vital stage within the planning of our production. This is as it gives a clear idea of what will be included within every shot, but rather than just stating what will visually be seen, elements such as sound, editing and actors for example will also be mentioned alongside the narrative description of what is actually taking place. Within our storyboards, there is a small box placed above which allowed my group and I to show what the scene would actually look like, providing with a pre production idea following the details as mentioned bellow. Storyboards are essential towards creating a high quality production, while making the process easier and stress free. This is as it provides with prior planning of what my group and I will go out to film, which will enable the planning of time, dates and other things to be stress free and manageable. Within having this stage of planning, it could result in the production being rushed and filming time to not be used efficiently, as it would be unknown as to what we would be filmed and where.  

Both our primary and secondary research my group and I conducted was essential towards not only finding out who our target audience would be and what content we should include to ensure that we are aiming it towards them, but also to see what general fans of the indie genre would like to see included within the indie genre. Alongside this, it was essential towards helping my group and I plan our storyboards. The primary research being our vox pops and questionnaires, which we conducted ourselves first hand to gather opinions on a number of different elements relating towards the indie genre. Whereas the secondary research is what is demonstrated throughout the research and planning blogs. A lot of this research we have discovered mainly through looking online, often analyzing official music videos via YouTube. Overall, our research helped us find many things that fans prefer to see in a music video and the sort of elements and conventions that were most popular. From this, it helped towards the creation of the storyboard as certain conventions such as the use of lighting was included to help appeal towards our target audience and fans of the indie genre. In regards to our production, it helped my group and I see what conventions people prefer to see. Also, it shows how they wish for the artist to be portrayal, alongside what style of video they'd prefer and also the sort of special effects such as lighting included. We gathered that many like to see an indie music video to include a strong narrative, usually consisting of a hard hitting narrative showing a certain message towards the viewer. From finding out this from the research, we have incorporated just that into our storyboards, which is evidently seen under the narrative description section, describing the purpose of certain shots. The research also showed how many expected the artist to be a relatable character that they could connect to, which can also be seen underneath the iconography section in our storyboards, as we tried to emphasis the sad and worried facial expressions of the artist, alongside this showing the clothes the artist is wearing, which aren't extravagant or flashy, rather being forms of clothing the everyday public would be familiar with but also while doing so they will show the artist as being in a poor state/ position in his life and his strive in to get into the music industry. 

For the actual story boarding process of this work,  we needed to include a number of things throughout the frames including;  the shot duration, a mock visual of the shot, cinematography, actors, editing, sound, iconography, lighting, location and narrative description. The cinematography section often being the most significant and varying as it relates towards how the shot itself will be shown, and through what particular technique which often differed from frame to frame. Examples of this taken from my group and I's storyboard our forms of cinematography such as close-ups, long shots or two shots. This allows my group and I to be better informed when filming, showing the position the camera will be in for the shot itself, as well as what actors will be present and the iconography use throughout, overall showing what will be included and the general idea of the shot. 

Lighting is another element present within our storyboard production. The main uses of this throughout often consists of high key, low key and natural key lighting. This tells us the effects we have to add in after filming in regards with the lighting, evidently showing how the editing process is also shown and planned within the storyboard as some of the lighting will be edited in at a later stage, once again emphasizing the importance of a storyboard. Although for natural lighting that will be within the raw footage shown, and the other two forms of lighting mentioned will have to be edited in, which my group and I have a better insight towards when they will be edited in and to what effect this is done. 

Another element of the storyboard is the location, which is an essential part of the information shown. This is as not only do we need to know where the specific shots will take place, but also this links with planning our filming schedule. By writing the location of each individual shot in every frame of our story board, it allows for my group and I to refer back to it so we know when will we need to be in certain places and where, overall helping us towards organizing ourselves towards the whole timing process, which is essential due to filming restrictions in regards to the time allocated.

Iconography was also an important factor towards our storyboards. It tells us specifically not only the items and costumes we will need in specific frames, but also the facial expressions that the actors will be showing, allowing for certain feelings to be conveyed to the target audience through this. Alongside this, the iconography in our storyboard prepares us for what props we need for when we are going to film, and to what effect they will be used and during point in the narrative. Also, it shows what costumes the actors need to wear, which is often a very important element towards the portrayal of feeling towards the viewer which in turn influences how the concept will be shown throughout the visuals. As a whole it allows for more organization again for the whole filming process, giving a better insight towards smaller features within certain segments.  

What actors will be within each shot is also evident on the storyboard. This is important towards the core of the scene as we need to know who is needed and in what segment. An example of this from the storyboard can be taken when Tahir (a helper of the groups dad) is present in a shot which takes place in a house, however he won't be needed for any scenes taking place on liverpool street for example, providing with no reason to take him there. However Jake, Charlie and I are all involved in the liverpool street scene and will all need to act, which means we all need to be there. This also helps our overall organisation, as it tells us specifically who we need at specific points, allowing for there to be less confusion over who will be needed where and when. 

The sound use within each individual frame is also present within the storyboard. There is a very limited variety of sound in my group and I's music video, the only two appearances being when the artist speaks to the taxi driver, which takes place right at the beginning of the video (being the use of digetic sound). This takes place shortly before the song plays, which happens shortly after and is included throughout the entirety of the frames, being refereed to as "song continues" after the first frame where it begins to play.  

Despite editing not playing an active part towards the actual filming of the shots as it takes place after woulds, it will be an extremely important element towards my group and I's music video after filming. This is as we will add in special effects, transitions and other visuals to make our video more appealing and interesting. One example of this can be taken throughout the entirety of the production, that being adding in a saturation filter at a later stage to show throughout. Although it can be argued that it is not essential to put in our storyboards as it is not used when we are filming; the storyboards having a large amount of significance towards the planning of shots, it is still an important element to include. This is as writing in the editing section in each individual frame allows us to know when and where to specifically use editing, what shots will be included in and the type of editing we are going to use within this particular segment. Doing this helps with the production as it allows for additional preparation to be made; my group and I being more aware as to what form of editing will be included when, which gives us a better insight towards how certain scenes will link towards each other. 

Lastly, the narrative description is a vital part of our storyboards. It tells us specifically what is actually going on not only in the shot, but also the narrative itself and as we gradually film more and more. Referring to our storyboards will evidently tell us how far we are into our narrative, and what point of the narrative we our up to. The narrative description is arguably one of the most important elements of the storyboard, as without including it the shots wont make as much sense, as it might not have been very clear in the drawings or other descriptions as to what will be included within that certain segment. Alongside this, looking back on the shots my group and I would be unaware towards the purpose of each cell, which through including a narrative description eradicates this issue as it allows for the general idea of the scene to be made clearer. 

I believe that my group and I were organised well when it came towards planning and creating the storyboard. This also included how we would organised who completed what within the task. The group put in an equal amount of effort as a whole, although admittedly Jake and Charlie wrote more the frames, doing it during free time while myself was busy, although when together we all contributed ideals towards the table. The idea behind the narrative Jake was more driven towards creating, whereas charlie and myself came up with the addition details to add in alongside this, myself often providing with the shots including, trying to add in a variety to allow for diverse visuals. We used time in lesson and our free time outside of the lessons to fill in the boxes, also using time at home to do this, as we split 23 storyboard sheets between the three of us with Charlie and myself taking 8 sheets home to finish, leaving Jake with the last 7. Although by this point the narrative descriptions and other elements were basically all done minus some frames being exceptions, although at home we completed the drawings for the individual frames. As a group we decided that my workload for the production will come after the filming process as I will be in charge of the editing process; my contribution towards the creation of the storyboard being slightly less than my fellow group members as my expectations come at a later stage.