Filming grid - Shoot number two

Ancillary text preparation

I took some photographs of jake while I was filming so that I could use them for my ancillary texts. I used photoshop to make his eyes completely black as I didn't like that his eyes were visible. I will need to find a way to do this in my video as it looks a lot better. I showed these images to my peers and they said that they look "creepy", which was my desired effect. I will probably use the medium close up as the back cover for my digipak, I won't use either if them for the front cover as I am hoping to get a group shot of all of the antagonists when I do my thrird location to use for the front cover.

First Draft (Video)

First Draft of Music Video

I have edited the First Draft of my music video and uploaded it to YouTube. I will post it onto my blog once it has finished uploading. By putting the video on YouTube, I am appealing to a wider audience as it is the largest video sharing site today so lots of people can potentially see it, which means that if they like it, they will share it with their friends on social media such as Facebook.

shooting plan

This grid shows when I plan to shoot my music video. I have left five sections empty so that I can print off the grid and write in the planned shoots for them and add my comments then scan in the printed version to show the final shooting plans. It shows any problems that I had during filming as this way I can write them as they happen and I will not forget any issues that I have. The majority of my footage will be shot in the new year as I still need to purchase costumes for my cult antagonists, which I cannot afford in the build up period before christmas. 

Technical Equipment

Nikon D5200 - I am using my own camera for the project to film my music video and to take still images for my ancillary texts. I will take the images while I am filming so that the imagery will match my music video perfectly and that way it will work better as an advertisement for my product and the artist.

I will need to use an SD card to save the footage while filming. I will use an 8GB SD card as the memory should be sufficient for the amount of footage that I will get on each shot and I own one meaning that I wont need to purchase a new SD card for the project.

I will need to use a tripod to hold my camera in place for stationary shots to avoid having a shaky camera. My camera lens has a built in stabiliser so the tripod will not be essential however my footage will look better if i use one. My tripod is heavy too so it can be used as a cheap alternative to a steadicam for moving shots. 

I will use a dolly on my tripod for moving shots while on stable ground as it will make camera movements smoother. I will not b able to use this on bumpy ground as the wheels will knock and make the footage shaky. This means that in the abandoned buildings and forest locations i will not be able to use it.

I will try to use a steadicam for moving shots where the dolly is not useful as it will make the footage smoother and it will look more professional. I will need to buy a steadicam as college do not have any t lend to students, however it would be a good investment as it will make my coursework look smoother and it will help me to get a smoother look. I have looked online to buy one and the majority of steadicams for DSLR cameras cost in excess of £200, but i have found one on Amazon for only £75 so I might buy it after the christmas period. 

To edit my footage I will be using Final Cut Pro X on the apple macs as I am already familiar with with the software so I will not have to learn any new techniques. I have Adobe Premier CC on my laptop so I could use that however I am not familiar with the software so it will require me to learn how to use it if I choose to edit my footage using Premier.

To edit my ancillary texts I will use PhotoShop CC as I have the software on my laptop so I will be able to do a lot of editing outside of college times and also during college time as my laptop is portable so I can easily edit my ancillary texts anywhere. I am familiar with PhotoShop because I used it in AS Media Studies and I also use it quite a lot personally.   

New possible location

Izzy suggested to use an abandoned hospital in Beverley if St. Andrews quay wasn't available anymore so I am going to check the location to see if it looks like my desired Mese en scene. I will need to update my health and safety grid to suit the new location as it is an old hospital so there will be other risks that won't be present in St. Andrews quay as Izzy said there are needles on the floor which could be a hazard.

Anamatic

Text messages to show planning for filming

Georgia and Lewis wouldn't come back to the building that I am using as my location so I have completely recast Lewis's parts to jake as there is no need for a face in his shots so it doesn't really matter. I have asked Izzy to stand in for Georgia at the building shoot I will have borrow the dress from Georgia to maintain continuity and I will probably only do long shots and wide angles so that it won't be too obvious that it's a different actress. I think that this could work as it is something that is done in professional films and music videos however if it is too obvious I may recast Georgia to Izzy permanently as I will probably get more footage of izzy and Izzy is more willing to travel to locations than Georgia.

Storyboard

My storyboardshows the plan that I have for my music video. The song lasts for 5minutes and 10 seconds so my storyboard has 116 shots to be as detailed as possible and have a shot every couple of seconds to conform to the conventions of form. The storyboard covers all three of my locations that I will use. Now that I have created my storyboard, I will create an animatic by putting my song over the top to show how my video will look. 

Cast list

Luke Hallett - main protagonist (photographer)

Luke is actually an amateur photographer so he has a lot of photography kit at hand so it will be easy to use props and he an also give me personal insight for camera angles, movements and shots.

Georgia Tether - main female antagonist (demon girl)

Georgia is easy to make look scary and has an alternative style so she will own dresses similar to the ones that I have in mind so she is a good choice for my main female antagonist.

Jake Rawlings - Gas mask antagonist

Jake was actually my back up choice for te gas mask antagonist however he dresses how I want my character to dress so I think he is still a good choice. He wears mainly black and is slim so will look practically the same as how I had originally planned.

Izzy Smart - stand in for Georgia's wide shots in the abandoned buildings.

Filming Diary 22/11/2014 (Problems while filming)

About half way through filming in my first location we were asked to leave the area by the police as people had been inside the building vandalising it so we werent allowed in. They also told us that it was unsafe to be in the building. The officers reviewed the footage to make sure that we weren't vandalising the building and after that they let us go. This means that I won't be able to continue to shoot my video in this location so I will need to extend the parts in my other locations, which shouldn't be too much of a problem however it will mean that I'll need to pay for all of my actors train tickets to get to the locations as they are close to where I live and not in Hull (where all of my actors live). Lewis said that because of the police, he didnt want to carry on shooting so I will need to recast his role. I have someone else in mind who has said that they will do it instead so this isn't a huge problem. Georgia couldn't put in the contact lenses so I had to make do with her regular eyes, which in the end looked good however they would have had a better horror film visual effect if they had worked.

Possible Places my Product Will Feature

I will need to consider where my video will be posted. There are currently hundreds of websites that host videos and music videos, the most popular is YouTube. I will take this into consideration so initially post my music video onto YouTube and allow my target audience to share the video with their friends and family through social media.  

The audience members will share the video on social media and web2.0 if they enjoy it which will expand the audience. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all have integrated video players so my audience will probably share my video on them.

My primary target audience is aged between 16 and 21 according to the pol on my blog which means that they will be very tech savvy so the main way that they will consume music videos will be online. This means that my music video will have to be online to ensure that it is consumed and shared. Most music videos are put on YouTube or the artists’ Vevo account for their audience to find and watch. My music video will be put onto YouTube for my audience to consume. Because my genre is dubstep and not mainstream, the artist will probably not have a Vevo account so it will have to be direct from the artist or the record label. I think that my artist will be part of an independent record label such as, “Vinyl Related Records”, who often represent dubstep artists.

Audience research Focus group

Poll results

 

The poll results show me who my target audience and how they feel about music videos so now I can make my product to suit my target audiences wants and needs. For example i know that most of my audience are male so I will aim my music video at male interests. Laura Mulveys male gaze theory suggests that all music videos are already aimed at men and are just there for male veurerism.

Test Shots and Location Report

Video techniques and Inspiration

These are existing products that I like andhave taken inspiration from that i will use in my own music video.

Health and safety

Costume ideas

These are the ideas that I have for 3 of the antagonists in my product. The gas ask character will be wearing all black (hoody, skinny jeans and trainers) with a contrasting light gas mask. The girl will be wearing a white dress to connote innocence at the point of her introduction to the video which will juxtapose with her black eyes to show that she is a demon. I also want to have a ventriloquist doll in my video as they are the focal point of lots of modern horror films. James Wan uses them quite a lot as they are seen as ring creepy. It will only be a brief part  as I want to have it ride a red tricycle past the protagonist and say the lyrics to the song. 

The video starts with the same imagery that is prominent in another one of the groups music videos, “Ned Flanders NY”. This shows that Michael Shore’s idea of recycled ideas is present in this video as it was already done. The imagery was a large woman twerking in front of Hodgy Beats. This shows that Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory is in this video showing that the video was made to create voyeurism for men as it is objectifying men. This is done in a satirical manner to mock modern musicians and entertainers, which is postmodern.
            Michaels Shore also says about “Vanity and the moment”, which is present in the video as the group appear to think that they are better than everyone else in the video through the narrative however they show mention ‘Yeezy’, (Kanye West) as being a superior rapper through the lyrics. This shows that in the narrative of the video Michael Shores theory is present but in the song it is not. Michael Shore’s idea of decadence in music videos is present in the music video as it shows the group living purely for pleasure. Examples of this are Tyler, The Creator, as a centaur doing drugs and other members of the group in a car enjoying their selves. However at the end of the video it shows the people I the car were actually crying so the idea of decadence is not present in the video.
            The video doesn’t make sense, which complies with Michael Shores theory of death of content. This however works well with Andrew Goodwins theory that the viewer can create meaning. This means that the video doesn’t need to have one definitive meaning as the viewers can create many.

            Tim O’Sullivan’s theory is not relevant for this video as the video does not tell a story to the audience, as the imagery was very ambiguous. Kate Domaille’s theory is also not relevant for this video as there is no classic narrative style meaning that the 8 types of narrative are not used. This being said, the Achilles narrative type is present in the video as the members of the group start the video as appearing to be undefeatable however at the end of the video, Tyler, The Creator is knocked over by another person and the happy people in the car are sad. Todorovs equilibrium theory is not present in the video as there is no re-eqiulibrium. The structure is equilibrium to disequilibrium and then it ends.
            Boardwell and Thompsons theory is present as the audience don’t see everything that happened in the story however they don’t see all of the plot either which lft only the digesis for the viewers.

Preparation for test shots

Lighting Ideas

In my chosen locations I will not have access to electricity so I will need to use lighting that runs on batteries such as high powered torches or battery powered photography lighting. The locations that I have chosen don’t have a lot of natural light as they are sheltered and so the sun will not get to them easily. This works to my advantage as I want to use low key lighting which will be easier if I have full control over the light that I use. I will take three lights with me to the locations so that I can light the subject and the background in all of the shots. This is known as the three point lighting setup. 

 

 

 

Costume / Make up list with props highlighted

Luke

·         Jacket

·         Flannel shirt

·         Blue jeans

·         Glasses

·         Sensible shoes

 

Camera

Georgia

·         White dress

·         Face paint (White black and possibly red)

·         Black sclera contact lenses (17mm not 22mm because they are cheaper and have the same effect)

Lewis

·         Black hoody

·         Black skinny jeans

·         Black t-shirt

·         Black shoes

·         Gas mask

 

Spray paint can

James

·         Black robe

·         Face paint (white and black)

 

Satanic Bible

Baby Doll

Harry

·         Ventriloquist doll costume

·         Face paint (white, black, grey and red)

Red Tricycle

Location List

      ·         Abandoned building at St Andrews Quay

·         Small forest area

·         Farm

 

 

By only using three locations I am keeping shooting simple. I will make a shot list of all the shots that I need in each location to allow me to work efficiently and move opn to the next location.

History of Medium

3 initial ideas

Survey

I used social media such as Facebook to ask people to take my survey for audience research. This will help to get more people to take my survey and also help to get more people of my target audience age to take the survey so I will have a better understanding of what they people that I am aiming my survey at want from a music video.

Conventions of Genre

Treatment

Narrative horror: photographer in abandoned building. Innocent looking girl turns into black eyed demon. Photographer runs away. Stumbles upon satanic ritual. Runs away again: to old farm. Chased into room with old TV by villains. Gets trapped inside TV with villains.

Lyrics Analysis

The song that I have chosen do not have any lyrics however, the sound of the song is very dark and creepy so I will use this to create a horror film inspired video.

Skrillex – First of the Year (Equinox)

Structure: Narrative

Director: Tony Truand

Producer: HK Corp

Written By: Skrillex

Genre: Dubstep

The language for Skrillex’s, “First of the Year (Equinox)”, resembles a horror film in the themes that it has and the narrative. The structure of the video is completely narrative as it tells a story and has no performance aspects at all. This is conventional of the dubstep genre as dubstep artists don’t actually play instruments as it is mainly created on computers so showing any performance would be boring to watch and the videos wouldn’t be very popular. Most dubstep songs don’t have music videos as the genre is quite niche so the artists don’t have the funding to create music videos to promote their songs however Skrillex is a mainstream artist and is seen as the best dubstep artist so a lot of his songs have videos.

                The narrative of this video is a paedophile following a little girl into an abandoned warehouse with the suggested intention of sexual abuse however the girl turns out to be a demon that lures in and kills child molesters. The audience are unaware of this when the paedophile is following the girl so thy are concerned for the child and then the audience feel like there is some sort of karmic justice has been achieved which fulfils the uses and gratifications model as the audience feel anxiety and then have the anxiety relieved as the narrative progresses.

                The mise en scene of the video was effective as locations such as a playground help with the semiotics of the video to show that the male lead role is a paedophile and the other location is an abandoned warehouse which resembles a horror film. This is a convention of the dubstep genre as the songs often sound creepy due to the constant changes in pitch and unnatural sounds created. The shadow of the girl at the beginning of the video is similar to the shadow style of Nosferatu which works well with the horror film style that the video has. The Rohypnol bottle shows the audience that the paedophile has dark intentions and so the audience lose any empathy they might have had tor the man for the foreshadowed events. The video uses lots of low key lighting to create the horror film feel and it works well. At some points in the video the lighting is so low that the subjects look like silhouettes. I like this a lot and I will probably try to imitate this visual style for my own music video. Another style from this video that I liked and will try to replicate is the girls eyes, in the video she starts with regular eyes but when she leads the paedophile to the warehouse she has full black eyes. This is done with black sclera contact lenses and I plan to buy some to use in my video. The only noticeable colour in the video is red which symbolises danger and is used well to carry the creepy tone of the video. I don’t personally like this so I will avoid using it in my video. The moving dust creates a nice visual effect to show supernatural activity. It works well with the theme of the video as it allows the director to make the audience see more than he is showing which would be good for me as I don’t have a lot of money to create lots of practical effects. The part of the video when the paedophile is surrounded by old dolls is a convention of horror films. Specifically those of director, James Wan, who regularly makes horror films about Victorian style dolls. They represent all of the paedophiles previous victims, which is why some of the dolls look old and others look fairly modern: to show that he has been a paedophile for a long time. The demon hands that pull the paedophile back to the girl make a good effect and would be fairly easy to replicate so I might try to imitate the effect. The hands themselves are long and creepy looking, which helps to maintain the style of the horror film genre. There is one point in the video when high key lighting is used: at the end when the girl is adding to a tally chart to show that she has killed many paedophiles before this one which reinforces her role as the protagonist.

                There is a lot of technical editing and CGI in the video to help create the demon effect. The effects work well to create the horror film genre. I would be able to replicate these effects with Adobe After Effects if I chose to use these effects however I do not wish to create a CGI demon for my video. The other editing techniques in the video are mainly just cuts.

                The cinematography of the video is very varied. There are lots of close ups to show detail and emotions but there are also a lot of long shots to fit more into the shot. There were a lot of tracking shots so that the camera was moving, this is conventional of music videos as it makes the narrative seem faster and therefore the video becomes more exciting for the audience. At the beginning of the video when the girl is skipping towards the warehouse, there is a lot of empty space in the shots which the paedophile walks into to fill the shot making him look dominant. This is a convention of horror films so I will use this in my music video as it helps to make the video look scarier and creates anxiety for the audience.          

Enter Shikari – Aruing with thermometers

Structure: Narrative

Director: Raul Gonzo

Producer: Stefan Anderson

Written by: Enter Shikari

The language in the video for Enter Shikari’s, “Arguing with Thermometers”, is very socio-political driven. It is mainly narrative based however there are aspects of performance which makes the video more aesthetically pleasing as it breaks up the duration of the video more evenly. This is unconventional of the dubstep genre as the artist’s don’t tend to play physical instruments however as Enter Shikari are a mixed genre band (meaning they don’t stick to one genre), they use conventions from all of the used genres and they are mainly a rock band so it is usual for them to use features from the rock genre. Most dubstep songs do not have music videos as they are not popular enough to be in mainstream charts so they don’t have enough money to create music videos. The ones that do have videos mainly have a full narrative structure to tell a story.

                The narrative of the video is the band playing a 70’s style news team reporting on global warming. This matches the lyrics and the overall tone of the song as it focuses around global warming and the oil crisis.

                There are 3 levels of digesis in the video. Firstly, the video is in a bar with people who are watching the news on TV then the camera zooms into the TV when the digesis changes to the news studio. The third level of digesis is the band performing their instruments as the band. By using more than one level of digesis they have helped to break up the video which makes it less boring for the audience and therefore the audience will be more likely to share it on web2.0 or with their peers.

                The main digesis of the video is the band dressed as 70’s style news reporters giving reports about current social and political issues such as global warming. The channel they work for is Channel 4 which is known for being left wing in agenda which shows the ideology of the video is left wing and being against the use of fossil fuels. The drummer is the weatherman using his drum sticks to point to the weather icons which appears as being humorous. The band use lots of 70’s style news room iconography to create and maintain verisimilitude throughout the video. This makes the video more effective in portraying the intended meaning which is that global warming should be taken more seriously but it is thought of as not important.

                The mise en scene of the video was effective as it used a lot of conventions of stereotypical 1970’s news teams. This helped to create the narrative of the video. The video goes against Bordwell and Thompson’s theory as they say that what the audience sees are the important bits of the story and they don’t see non diegetic material or inferred events however in the video the audience see the camera men, an autocue and the screen managers. The burning band logo creates a juxtaposition to the songs meaning as it is probably burning oil or gas to stay alight however, the image works well aesthetically which according to Michael Shore’s stle over substance theory is more important.

                The editing of the video is fast paced, which is conventional of music videos as it keeps the audience interested. It also matched the pace of the song as it is upbeat and has a high tempo. If the song was slower the editing would be expected to be slower too, to match the beat of the song. I liked the POV jump cut into the TV set at the beginning of the video as it changed the digesis from a man watching the news to actually being the news. I think that I will attempt this method in my video as I plan on doing something similar towards the end of my video.

                The cinematography in the video is nearly all the same. Medium close ups and long shots are used throughout the video to show the artists performing. Conventionally for performance, close ups would be used to convey emotion however the structure of this video is mainly narrative so these shots are used to aid the narrative style and help the verisimilitude of a news team.

Chosen Song

The song that I have chosen to create a promotional campaign including a music video and two ancillary texts is called Titanium by iBenji. The genre of this song is dubstep which is a relatively modern development in the EDM (electronic dance music) industry so conventions for music videos of this genre are still being created as there aren't a lot of dubstep music videos. There isn't a music video for the song that I have chosen which is good because it means that I have more room to be creative with my product and create a unique and individual product. One of my initial ideas for my music video is to direct the video in a similar fashion to a horror film by using mise en scene, editing and taking inspiration from both horror film directors such as Rob Zombie and Alfred Hitchcock and also from director of music videos that have an auteur style to create gritty/ edgy music videos such as Wolf Haley.

1 minute music video remake

I have chosen which brief I want to follow - an original music video. Currently I am remaking the Busted video because this is the task given. Within college the choice of recreating a music video is very popular among the A2 students. I feel that the difficulty in recreating a music video is a drawback to going along that route however i think that the fun had while creating my video will outweigh the negative aspects. I already have an idea for the song that I will choose and the narrative of my music video. I know a few people that are thinking of opting out of doing music videos to do documentaries and film trailers but i think that i'd rather try to do a music video.

choosing a brief

I have chosen which brief I want to follow - an original music video. Currently I am remaking the Busted video because this is the task given. Within college the choice of recreating a music video is very popular among the A2 students. I feel that the difficulty in recreating a music video is a drawback to going along that route however i think that the fun had while creating my video will outweigh the negative aspects. I already have an idea for the song that I will choose and the narrative of my music video. I know a few people that are thinking of opting out of doing music videos to do documentaries and film trailers but i think that i'd rather try to do a music video.

creating a story board

Here you can see the story board that I made. There is a total of 30 shots for 1:00 worth of the video. Each shot details the mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound. We have casted parts amongst the group and looked at the props we have available. We have got our old school ties to wear for the filming. Our first day of filming was not very successful due to factor such as not having enough time to set up the scene and lighting and then make sure it had all been put away for the next lesson. We also had problems with the camera. We have around 2-3 days to get all the filming done and provide time for editing before our deadline which is the 26th June. My group cannot extend this date as that date is when we show the videos to our class. This is not looking achievable at the present.

Remaking a music video

Watch the Video Below. You may notice that this sound is out of sync with the video in this clip however unfortunately this is the only video available on YouTube of it. When creating my story board I used other videos on separate music websites however I can't post a link to them because I am currently in college and they block just about every single website going on their intranet. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD6aKVWW-K0&feature=player_embedded
As part of my preliminary task I am remaking 1:00 of a music video. It has taken us 2 lessons searching on YouTube and through our minds to a find music video that we could agree to recreate as well as be achievable and not impossible. When searching you have to think about the availability you have to the number of people you would need to be in the video, the mise-en-scene and scenery and the amount of time that you have to recreate the video. I know that other groups in my class had the same difficulty in trying to find a music video to recreate. My group has chosen to re make Busted’s Video ‘What I go to school for’ because we feel that the mise - en -scene is easy to recreate as we have a college with fantastic facilities and you can't beat a bit of busted. The video is old fashioned but still has the classical school vibe. After looking in detail at the cinematography and editing there is nothing too difficult to recreate. As my group has not used the software we will use to edit the video before it will save us time. The major benefit to choosing this music video is that we don't have to spend time outside of college trying to recreate something. We all have 3 other A2 subjects to juggle along with driving lessons. I feel that after the summer, my attitudes towards the task will be more focused but right now I am lacking motivation having just finished 9 AS exams.