Before we could start any filming, we had to organise and think about certain key points. We had to make sure our actor knew both the lyrics and the guitar tabs to the song. This is very important as the footage speed needs to be exactly matching to the song speed, or it will look out of time. The story-boarding had helped us set out our angles, which we wanted but we needed to get the correct positioning and view point perfect. The first stage of filming our music video was the the footage in-front of the green screen, with Cameron (our actor) playing his guitar. We decided to do this footage first as it would give us time to edited the background to the setting we want and then we would moved on to the cutaway shots some other time. We also had to make sure the four costumes we had provide fitted Cameron and match the idea we had to fit in with the lyrics.
We planned to film the first shot after school as this was the only time we could all meet up and have enough time to
Monday, 30 March 2009
Friday, 6 February 2009
New Planning
With this new idea that we have, this means the location, props and equipment, actors and actresses, storyboarding and times of filming have completely changed and I will try to explain, show exactly what we are thinking and and processes behind it. If any of this is incorrect or just slightly wrong, then the next stages will also be wrong. Because we didnt like our first idea, this meant we had to rethink and create a new idea, which we thought would appeal to a larger target audience. Because the song is so cheerful and happy, we aim to make our lead actor who is the main focal point, the same to try and draw in a bigger audience.
Idea
As we changed our first idea, we needed to agree to an idea that we would both enjoy filming and editing and that would appeal to our set target audience. Our new idea for our music video will be composed of footage of a singer, which will be shot in front of a green screen so that all around him can be white. He will have an acoustic guitar and then we will mix in small clips which relate to the lyrics of the song. For example on the line 'Pulp Fiction, Blazing Saddles and Fast times.' We want to have the singer in costumes of each of theses films changing with the speed of the lyrics. I believe this will add variety to the music video and also attract the audience into watching the video as it will be fun and enjoyable. We gathered inspiration from two current music videos, being Frank Turners 'Long live the queen' video, which gave us the idea of having our lead actor standing there by himself singing and the idea for the bright white background came from the music video, Beyonce ' All the single ladies'.
The visuals and cutaways will both add a sense of realism to the music video, as-well as comical value, which will appeal to our set target audience and hopefully attract new audiences. I think these cutaways will make our music video differ from most, current music videos, which are aimed at the same target audience that are we aiming our music video at. In our music video we want to mix live footage of a singer mix with comical side footage relating with the lyrics of the song. It will be extremely hard to explain each idea of our added clips and footage of the singer, so this is where story-boarding will help identify each shot need and in which order.
Location
For our location we need to shot the majority of our song in front of a green screen, which is in at school. This gives us plenty of time for shooting our video as we can access the set and equipment any time during the week. Because we want to put additional shots or pictures in, we need to shot these in different places for example we need a shot of cameron getting up off a kitchen table. Also there will be random clips as well which will be filmed in general hang out locations. We have permissions to shot theses ideas anytime, which gives us the room to shot around cameron in-front of the green screen and help us get the best possible out come for our music video.
Props and Equipment
In my AS production I used the Canon XL2 to film all of my production. The quality of this camera is higher than any other I was allowed to use and this showed in the final product of filming. This camera was very simple to use and allowed me to film everything I wanted to so we decided to use this camera again for most of our A2 production of a music video. We intend to use this camera for the filming of the singer and then for the cutaway clips maybe use a hand held camera or a smaller camera compared to the Canon XL2. we wanted to do this idea because it will give the cutaways a real-life or home video feel , which might added to the comical effect that we are going for, contrasting with the footage of the singer.
The props are very important in setting the mood of the music video and therefore need to be correct. We want these props to portray what we were thinking and trying to get across to our target audience. The props will be based around the lyrics of the song and will be shown and explained in the story boarding.
Institution
The institution we would aim our video towards is mainstream MTV. Because the song we have chosen is on an acoustic guitar with the important lyrics that have a sing-a-long feel, we want it to be set out and viewed by a very general audience, trying to get a bigger audience, spreading the hype of the music video. The music video could be broadcasted on a rang of channels from MTV and Smash Hits, to even Kerrang and MTV Two as Bowling For Soup have established themselves as a rock band. Our target audience is aimed at young people, in the same way that the song 'Rockstar' by Nickelback is a sing-a-long song aimed at young people and has such a large audience,
Storyboarding
The standard of the storyboarding from AS to A2 has to be improved and to do this instead of drawing them out by hand, we could have the option of drawing out the images then scanning them onto the computer and colouring and editing them through Photoshop. This process of editing the images through the computer is time consuming and I think the standard will be to a lower level compared to hand drawn storyboards. The storyboards need to help us get an idea of the shots needed with a variety of different camera angles and will help anyone viewing them to understand what we are trying to achieve. These storyboards have to depict exactly what we want to be in our music video, which will help us when trying to film. The storyboards need to show our thoughts and how they change and adapt depending on different situations.
Idea
As we changed our first idea, we needed to agree to an idea that we would both enjoy filming and editing and that would appeal to our set target audience. Our new idea for our music video will be composed of footage of a singer, which will be shot in front of a green screen so that all around him can be white. He will have an acoustic guitar and then we will mix in small clips which relate to the lyrics of the song. For example on the line 'Pulp Fiction, Blazing Saddles and Fast times.' We want to have the singer in costumes of each of theses films changing with the speed of the lyrics. I believe this will add variety to the music video and also attract the audience into watching the video as it will be fun and enjoyable. We gathered inspiration from two current music videos, being Frank Turners 'Long live the queen' video, which gave us the idea of having our lead actor standing there by himself singing and the idea for the bright white background came from the music video, Beyonce ' All the single ladies'.
The visuals and cutaways will both add a sense of realism to the music video, as-well as comical value, which will appeal to our set target audience and hopefully attract new audiences. I think these cutaways will make our music video differ from most, current music videos, which are aimed at the same target audience that are we aiming our music video at. In our music video we want to mix live footage of a singer mix with comical side footage relating with the lyrics of the song. It will be extremely hard to explain each idea of our added clips and footage of the singer, so this is where story-boarding will help identify each shot need and in which order.
Location
For our location we need to shot the majority of our song in front of a green screen, which is in at school. This gives us plenty of time for shooting our video as we can access the set and equipment any time during the week. Because we want to put additional shots or pictures in, we need to shot these in different places for example we need a shot of cameron getting up off a kitchen table. Also there will be random clips as well which will be filmed in general hang out locations. We have permissions to shot theses ideas anytime, which gives us the room to shot around cameron in-front of the green screen and help us get the best possible out come for our music video.
Props and Equipment
In my AS production I used the Canon XL2 to film all of my production. The quality of this camera is higher than any other I was allowed to use and this showed in the final product of filming. This camera was very simple to use and allowed me to film everything I wanted to so we decided to use this camera again for most of our A2 production of a music video. We intend to use this camera for the filming of the singer and then for the cutaway clips maybe use a hand held camera or a smaller camera compared to the Canon XL2. we wanted to do this idea because it will give the cutaways a real-life or home video feel , which might added to the comical effect that we are going for, contrasting with the footage of the singer.
The props are very important in setting the mood of the music video and therefore need to be correct. We want these props to portray what we were thinking and trying to get across to our target audience. The props will be based around the lyrics of the song and will be shown and explained in the story boarding.
Institution
The institution we would aim our video towards is mainstream MTV. Because the song we have chosen is on an acoustic guitar with the important lyrics that have a sing-a-long feel, we want it to be set out and viewed by a very general audience, trying to get a bigger audience, spreading the hype of the music video. The music video could be broadcasted on a rang of channels from MTV and Smash Hits, to even Kerrang and MTV Two as Bowling For Soup have established themselves as a rock band. Our target audience is aimed at young people, in the same way that the song 'Rockstar' by Nickelback is a sing-a-long song aimed at young people and has such a large audience,
Storyboarding
The standard of the storyboarding from AS to A2 has to be improved and to do this instead of drawing them out by hand, we could have the option of drawing out the images then scanning them onto the computer and colouring and editing them through Photoshop. This process of editing the images through the computer is time consuming and I think the standard will be to a lower level compared to hand drawn storyboards. The storyboards need to help us get an idea of the shots needed with a variety of different camera angles and will help anyone viewing them to understand what we are trying to achieve. These storyboards have to depict exactly what we want to be in our music video, which will help us when trying to film. The storyboards need to show our thoughts and how they change and adapt depending on different situations.
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Bowling for Soup 'Friends Of Mine' Lyrics
Well it was ugly but we made it this far
Some have gone but I forget who they are
Now the hangovers are worse but we get through them fine
Sleeping late but we're not lazy
Getting older but we're still crazy
I'm so glad that I have these Friends O' Mine
It started out at a coffee shop in a most unlikely town
And there were casulties but we made it out, anyhow
We stuck together through the good and bad times
Pulp Fiction, Blazing Saddles and Fast Times
I'm so glad that I have these Friends O' Mine
And jobs, girls, and obstacles did all but break us down
Night clubs and broken vans in every major town
Well I've got your back, and you've got mine
Like Johnny Cash said, "I walk the line"
And you can always count on me for one last beer
We saw the world and the world seemed smaller
We're getting wider but not getting no taller
I know we've grown up just a little at a time
We're sleeping late but we're not lazy
We're getting older but we're still crazy
I'm so glad that I have these Friends O' Mine
So glad that I have these Friends O' Mine
So glad that I have these Friends O' Mine
Some have gone but I forget who they are
Now the hangovers are worse but we get through them fine
Sleeping late but we're not lazy
Getting older but we're still crazy
I'm so glad that I have these Friends O' Mine
It started out at a coffee shop in a most unlikely town
And there were casulties but we made it out, anyhow
We stuck together through the good and bad times
Pulp Fiction, Blazing Saddles and Fast Times
I'm so glad that I have these Friends O' Mine
And jobs, girls, and obstacles did all but break us down
Night clubs and broken vans in every major town
Well I've got your back, and you've got mine
Like Johnny Cash said, "I walk the line"
And you can always count on me for one last beer
We saw the world and the world seemed smaller
We're getting wider but not getting no taller
I know we've grown up just a little at a time
We're sleeping late but we're not lazy
We're getting older but we're still crazy
I'm so glad that I have these Friends O' Mine
So glad that I have these Friends O' Mine
So glad that I have these Friends O' Mine
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Change Of Plan/Idea
As we are changes the idea and song, this means only the research still applies, as it talks about the history of music videos, and certain music videos which we have gathered information on and put towards our idea. I will have re-edited and research other ideas and redo my planning section as it doesn't apply anymore.
We want to change our main idea and song for our music video from Ryan Adams 'Slyvia Plath' to Bowling For Soup 'Friends O Mine'. We have decided to change our whole plan due to the fact that we felt our last idea was so much harder to film and arrange props, actors and actresses compared to our new idea. I think this change in plan will benefit and improve our production for this music video and appeal to a different target audience.
The new idea focuses on one main character, singing and playing guitar in front a green screen, which will be edited to add a bright white colour to the background. These clips of him singing and playing guitar will be interlinked with other ideas, such as him changing costume or random clips or pictures. We will try and relate the other random clips and images to the lyrics for example 'We saw the world and the world seemed smaller." For this we want to use a clip from Indiana Jones, where the maps show where he has travelled to and from.
I believe this idea will appeal to a larger target audience than our last idea even though we are still aiming it towards the same music institution of MTV.
The research section that I have completed still applies to our new song, as it is a general overview of what we need to include and do for our music video but i will have to redo the whole of the planning section as it is more in-depth and talks about what our plans, ideas and what we need to film and produce our music video.
We want to change our main idea and song for our music video from Ryan Adams 'Slyvia Plath' to Bowling For Soup 'Friends O Mine'. We have decided to change our whole plan due to the fact that we felt our last idea was so much harder to film and arrange props, actors and actresses compared to our new idea. I think this change in plan will benefit and improve our production for this music video and appeal to a different target audience.
The new idea focuses on one main character, singing and playing guitar in front a green screen, which will be edited to add a bright white colour to the background. These clips of him singing and playing guitar will be interlinked with other ideas, such as him changing costume or random clips or pictures. We will try and relate the other random clips and images to the lyrics for example 'We saw the world and the world seemed smaller." For this we want to use a clip from Indiana Jones, where the maps show where he has travelled to and from.
I believe this idea will appeal to a larger target audience than our last idea even though we are still aiming it towards the same music institution of MTV.
The research section that I have completed still applies to our new song, as it is a general overview of what we need to include and do for our music video but i will have to redo the whole of the planning section as it is more in-depth and talks about what our plans, ideas and what we need to film and produce our music video.
Monday, 13 October 2008
Research
Before we can start to generate ideas for this music video, we first have to be able to understand the ideas behind music videos, what they try and achieve and why some are more successful than others. The definition of a music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song with lyrics. This is obvious and doesn’t really help us understand why there is such a range of music videos, which try to all get across there own point of opinion. I feel most music videos just try to keep the audience interested and boost sales of the songs rather than make the viewer see there own opinion a specific matters. Music videos use a range of styles of filmmaking, including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation and live action. I am going to look at four different types of music videos and try and breakdown the ideas behind each one, hoping this will help us with our planning, filming and generation of ideas. Also I will look at the history of music videos and how they change over the years, which hopefully also will help me understand music videos better. The four music videos I will be looking at are The Gossip ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’, Michael Jackson ‘Earth Song’, The White stripes ‘Fell In Love With A Girl’ and Editors ‘Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors’. I chose each of these music videos for different reasons, which I will talk about when comparing them together and talking about the strengths and weaknesses.
Music videos generally use band footage to interlink different plots together to make them make sense, making the audience keep interest in the video. The pace of music videos has to be fast with quick changing shots or the audience will soon get bored of the video. The image of the band is crucial to their popularity and overall sales of their songs, which is the most important factor. Music videos have to appeal to all types of audience, broadening their popularity and sales of their song. Music videos represent a crucial part of the music industry. Many artists owe their careers to music videos as they are being given the chance of impressing the public not just with their voices, but also with their looks or moves.
Evaluating each video shall be difficult but I feel I need to gain a better understanding of what makes a good music video before we can start to plans ours. These music videos are all types of styles and think this is good, as I will have a wider verity of knowledge before starting. I felt I chose four different types of music video from animation to the more political video.
Screen grabs of existing music videos:
Editors ‘Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors’.
Above is a series of shots taken from The Editors new video ‘Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors’.The music video for "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" was filmed in and around Prague on the Vltava,and depicts, in a nonlinear manner, a young girl with the ability to walk on water escaping from a hospital, escaping via railway lines, a red light district and a Romani encampment to the river Vltava where she attempts to row away, only to run back across the water surface to avoid a police boat, all intercut with clips of the Editors playing the song in an abandoned ship. The woman that helps hide the runaway, presumably a prostitute (the woman), changes in appearance. The runaway's hood is alternately flipped up and down and the dog that runs with her might also be different in different scenes. This is all to signify that the runaway has escaped many times before.
I chose to look at this video because I feel it shares the same imagery and characteristics that we want emulate. Although it combines band footage with the story, there are certain themes that we feel we could use in our video. We intend to use the same colour scheme that they have used such as the light and dark greys but maybe put hints of oranges in to contrast the overall colour. Also we intend to use the same figure in our video, trying to show what she is going through and how she feels.
The Gossip ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’
I decided to choose this music video as I felt it was completely different to any other video I have seen. In The Gossip’s music video, the main focus is on the band but uses animation to interact with the band footage, making the music video interesting and colourful. I believe that this music video would have a different aged target audience to ours, as their video would suit younger people such as teenagers. The song "Standing in the Way of Control" is the 'unofficial' theme song to the British teen drama Skins, being used during the ad campaign and has become generally associated with the series by viewers and this backs up their suited target audience.
To get the final product for this music video, they would have to film the band in front of a green screen, then edit and add the animation, which they would of created and layer it over the band footage giving them their finished product. This idea behind the music video is entirely different to what we want to achieve in ours but I feel I should research a range of music videos, not just ones that link in with our idea.
The White stripes ‘Fell In Love With A Girl’
The music video is a Lego animation directed by Michel Gondry. It was shot frame by frame with each frame having the Lego bricks rebuilt, sometimes in a complex manner to seem as if it were an actual shot, and then formed together to give the illusion of motion. The video mostly consists of red, white, and black colour. The video won three MTV Video Music Awards in 2002: Breakthrough Video, Best Special Effects, and Best Editing. It also received a nomination for Video of the Year.
I decided to choose this video as I felt the animation used was completely different form The Gossip’s video, so it gave me a chance to research another type of animation video. The colours used in this music video are mostly consists of red, white, and black, which completely contrasts the colours which we are planning to use.
Michael Jackson ‘Earth Song’
The song's music video depicts the Earth being destroyed by humans, and alludes to environmental and poverty issues in the world. The visuals present the destruction of rainforests by loggers, animals killed by poachers, and a North American forest burnt to stumps. The video also shows the devastation of 1990s aggressions in Yugoslav wars and people returning to their shattered homes.
I decided to research this music video as I feel it has more of a serious and political side to it compared to the other music videos I have researched. It tries to express their own opinions and point of views across the audience, making them take action to everything that is happening. I think their target audience is aimed it everybody, as this will increase their chances of someone making a stand against the problems.
Music videos generally use band footage to interlink different plots together to make them make sense, making the audience keep interest in the video. The pace of music videos has to be fast with quick changing shots or the audience will soon get bored of the video. The image of the band is crucial to their popularity and overall sales of their songs, which is the most important factor. Music videos have to appeal to all types of audience, broadening their popularity and sales of their song. Music videos represent a crucial part of the music industry. Many artists owe their careers to music videos as they are being given the chance of impressing the public not just with their voices, but also with their looks or moves.
Evaluating each video shall be difficult but I feel I need to gain a better understanding of what makes a good music video before we can start to plans ours. These music videos are all types of styles and think this is good, as I will have a wider verity of knowledge before starting. I felt I chose four different types of music video from animation to the more political video.
Screen grabs of existing music videos:
Editors ‘Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors’.
Above is a series of shots taken from The Editors new video ‘Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors’.The music video for "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" was filmed in and around Prague on the Vltava,and depicts, in a nonlinear manner, a young girl with the ability to walk on water escaping from a hospital, escaping via railway lines, a red light district and a Romani encampment to the river Vltava where she attempts to row away, only to run back across the water surface to avoid a police boat, all intercut with clips of the Editors playing the song in an abandoned ship. The woman that helps hide the runaway, presumably a prostitute (the woman), changes in appearance. The runaway's hood is alternately flipped up and down and the dog that runs with her might also be different in different scenes. This is all to signify that the runaway has escaped many times before.
I chose to look at this video because I feel it shares the same imagery and characteristics that we want emulate. Although it combines band footage with the story, there are certain themes that we feel we could use in our video. We intend to use the same colour scheme that they have used such as the light and dark greys but maybe put hints of oranges in to contrast the overall colour. Also we intend to use the same figure in our video, trying to show what she is going through and how she feels.
The Gossip ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’
I decided to choose this music video as I felt it was completely different to any other video I have seen. In The Gossip’s music video, the main focus is on the band but uses animation to interact with the band footage, making the music video interesting and colourful. I believe that this music video would have a different aged target audience to ours, as their video would suit younger people such as teenagers. The song "Standing in the Way of Control" is the 'unofficial' theme song to the British teen drama Skins, being used during the ad campaign and has become generally associated with the series by viewers and this backs up their suited target audience.
To get the final product for this music video, they would have to film the band in front of a green screen, then edit and add the animation, which they would of created and layer it over the band footage giving them their finished product. This idea behind the music video is entirely different to what we want to achieve in ours but I feel I should research a range of music videos, not just ones that link in with our idea.
The White stripes ‘Fell In Love With A Girl’
The music video is a Lego animation directed by Michel Gondry. It was shot frame by frame with each frame having the Lego bricks rebuilt, sometimes in a complex manner to seem as if it were an actual shot, and then formed together to give the illusion of motion. The video mostly consists of red, white, and black colour. The video won three MTV Video Music Awards in 2002: Breakthrough Video, Best Special Effects, and Best Editing. It also received a nomination for Video of the Year.
I decided to choose this video as I felt the animation used was completely different form The Gossip’s video, so it gave me a chance to research another type of animation video. The colours used in this music video are mostly consists of red, white, and black, which completely contrasts the colours which we are planning to use.
Michael Jackson ‘Earth Song’
The song's music video depicts the Earth being destroyed by humans, and alludes to environmental and poverty issues in the world. The visuals present the destruction of rainforests by loggers, animals killed by poachers, and a North American forest burnt to stumps. The video also shows the devastation of 1990s aggressions in Yugoslav wars and people returning to their shattered homes.
I decided to research this music video as I feel it has more of a serious and political side to it compared to the other music videos I have researched. It tries to express their own opinions and point of views across the audience, making them take action to everything that is happening. I think their target audience is aimed it everybody, as this will increase their chances of someone making a stand against the problems.
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
History of Music Videos
• The first musical short films were made in 1923-24, then many followed in six years later, featuring bands, vocalists and dancers.
• Early 1930s cartoons featured popular musicians performing their hit songs on-camera in live action segments during the cartoons.
• Another early form of music video were one-song films called "Promotional Clips" made in the 1940s for the Panoram visual jukebox. These were short films of musical selections, usually just a band on a movie-set bandstand, made for playing.
• According to the Internet Accuracy Project, disk jockey-singer J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson was the first to coin the phrase "music video", in 1959.
• MTV (Music Television) was a phenomenon that gave so much power and importance to the music video. MTV started broadcasting in 1981 in the USA and it marked the beginning of the music video’s ruling over the music industry. The first video ever played on MTV was ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ by The Buggles.
• Early 1930s cartoons featured popular musicians performing their hit songs on-camera in live action segments during the cartoons.
• Another early form of music video were one-song films called "Promotional Clips" made in the 1940s for the Panoram visual jukebox. These were short films of musical selections, usually just a band on a movie-set bandstand, made for playing.
• According to the Internet Accuracy Project, disk jockey-singer J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson was the first to coin the phrase "music video", in 1959.
• MTV (Music Television) was a phenomenon that gave so much power and importance to the music video. MTV started broadcasting in 1981 in the USA and it marked the beginning of the music video’s ruling over the music industry. The first video ever played on MTV was ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ by The Buggles.
Sunday, 21 September 2008
Ryan Adams – Sylvia Plath lyrics
I wish I had a sylvia plath
Busted tooth and a smile
And cigarette ashes in her drink
The kind that goes out and then sleeps for a week
The kind that goes out on her
To give me a reason, for well, I dunno
And maybe shed take me to france
Or maybe to spain and shed ask me to dance
In a mansion on the top of a hill
Shed ash on the carpets
And slip me a pill
Then shed get pretty loaded on gin
And maybe shed give me a bath
How I wish I had a sylvia plath
And she and I would sleep on a boat
And swim in the sea without clothes
With rain falling fast on the sea
While she was swimming away, shed be winking at me
Telling me it would all be okay
Out on the horizon and fading away
And Id swim to the boat and Id laugh
I gotta get me a sylvia plath
And maybe shed take me to france
Or maybe to spain and shed ask me to dance
In a mansion on the top of a hill
Shed ash on the carpets
And slip me a pill
Then shed get pretty loaded on gin
And maybe shed give me a bath
How I wish I had a sylvia plath
I wish I had a sylvia plath
Busted tooth and a smile
And cigarette ashes in her drink
The kind that goes out and then sleeps for a week
The kind that goes out on her
To give me a reason, for well, I dunno
And maybe shed take me to france
Or maybe to spain and shed ask me to dance
In a mansion on the top of a hill
Shed ash on the carpets
And slip me a pill
Then shed get pretty loaded on gin
And maybe shed give me a bath
How I wish I had a sylvia plath
And she and I would sleep on a boat
And swim in the sea without clothes
With rain falling fast on the sea
While she was swimming away, shed be winking at me
Telling me it would all be okay
Out on the horizon and fading away
And Id swim to the boat and Id laugh
I gotta get me a sylvia plath
And maybe shed take me to france
Or maybe to spain and shed ask me to dance
In a mansion on the top of a hill
Shed ash on the carpets
And slip me a pill
Then shed get pretty loaded on gin
And maybe shed give me a bath
How I wish I had a sylvia plath
I wish I had a sylvia plath
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