We have now begun extensive editing of our footage and we are quite satisfied with some of the shots we have captured. However, we had initial difficulties after losing a portion of our edited footage but I managed to restore the data previously lost and we can now continue.
 
Due to the teachers strike, the stage in the hall was free for use all day, and we used the opportunity to begin filming our performance. 

We used a lot of equipment, including:
  • Extension cable
  • 2 construction lights and 2 lamps
  • Bass guitar/bass guitar straps
  • Electric guitar/strap
  • Microphone stand
  • Drum kit
  • Tracking
  • Tripods
  • Stage lighting
  • Light reflectors/defusers

We spent about 5 hours filming, concentrating on the different instruments accordingly as well as trying different angles to film the whole band performance. The session resulted in some very good shots and lighting effects!
 
Last week we completed our test photo shoot, but not after having initial trouble with finding a suitable location and having to borrow an extension lead. After reviewing the photos, we shortlisted the photos that show the best light dynamics and put them in a folder. We then further shortlisted these photos to get an accurate representation of the effects we could use in our final media product. 
 
Last week we began creating our own Weebly website as part of our portfolio for media studies. This will be especially useful as Weebly allows us to keep progress of our work through the use of these blogs as well as allowing us to put our research and analyses in a visual format.

However, I have been having certain difficulties involving the uploading of certain 8-bit pictures as certain files occasionally cause an error message to appear. By changing the format of these pictures to JPEG it usually solves the problem, but I have also found the "drag-and-drop" system on Weebly to be hard to use at times as it does not allow you to move text boxes with the mouse, which often leaves a large, 
 
So far we have made significant progress in our preparation for filming which we aim to start either on Wednesday 16th November or sometime next week. In our preparation, we have included:
- Relevant theory research including musical theorists such as Andy Bennett and Andrew Goodwin, and explored how we can use this research in relation to our final media product. For example, the relationship between lyrics and visuals is considered important in Goodwin's theory.

- Relevant genre research including analysis of music videos from similar artists such as Professor Green and Example, as well as researching the musical influences of Plan B such as Smokey Robinson and the conventions used in soul music. This will help us gain an insight into the conventions typically seen in soul/blues music and will allow us to create a unique feel to our music video.

- We have created seperate pitches for our music video and proposed them to a focus group which we filmed and uploaded to Youtube as part of our portfolio. We should have the video up on Weebly soon.

- Completed our screenplay and relevant shotlist, and have now begun completing our recce reports and finalising our storyboards.
 
Hey everybody, this is Gene, I will be updating our progress in the development of our Weebly site and our future media product!