Production - Day 3 Filming

For day 3 of filming we wanted to film in London Bridge, on the millennium bridge and locations surrounding it. However, when we arrived we realised that the location was not very suitable for our music video because it does not work alongside our other locations. Also, because it was in day light the footage that we would have filmed would not be effective in our music video.

As a result of this, we just filmed some time lapses on millennium bridge in which we will decide whether we will use it or not. After this, we went to North Greenwich to shoot some base tracks and cut away shots.

Tomorrow, we will also be filming in North Greenwich but at night to capture the lights that surround the O2 Arena.

Production- Day 3 Of Filming

Its day 3 and filming today did not turn out as expected. My group and I were meant to film at London Bridge but encountered problems like not knowing what to film and how we could fit such a location in our music video. We felt that filming in London Bridge will randomise our video and cause confusion, so we decided to film a few time lapses. We then went to North Greenwich to continue our filming which turned out even better.

Production - Day 2 Filming

Production - Day 2 Filming (Limehouse/Mile End)

Production- Day 2 of Filming

Today we went to Mile End/Limehouse to film. It has been a very successful and productive day. My group and I have produced so many excellent shots that will be useful in our remake video. Filming today had no limitations at all, although we encountered some people who ruined some of our shots we carried on  and did what we had to do. We had many strengths filming; arriving at our location we knew exactly what we wanted to film and where.

Editing Ideas

I recently watched a music video by an american artist called Bei Maejor who made a video to one of his songs called "pillz". This video has different special effects that i think my group should consider using.

The first effect i recognised in this video and liked was the different use of colour grading. The colour grading can bring out different types of atmosphere depending how you use it. Our Tune is about depressing so we could use a certain colour grading to express or exaggerate the feeling of depression.

The second effect i really like was the use of slow motion.

Day 2 of Filming

Me and my group decided that we were going to rent our equipment for the half term so all of our filming should be finished by the time half term finishes.

We meant each other at 12:00 at Limehouse Station in East London to do some filming.

Then we decided to go to miles end (East London) to do some filming there. we were organised and on schedule.

 

Production- Seperate part Of Filming

Due to circumstances my group was not able to make filming. But I took it upon myself to not waste a day and just film  a time lapse in Piccadilly Circus which will be used effectively in our video remake. It went very well. Although lighting was a small issue I overcame this. There were many strengths as how we discussed in our group we wanted a lot of cars and people around to give the clustered and packed look, which in fact came out very well.

Production - Preparation for Day 2 of Filming

Seeing as the temperature is dropping very rapidly this week, we need to make sure that we are fully prepared for our second day of filming which will be all outdoors. We will need to wear appropriate clothing to film and most importantly, bring umbrellas to ensure that the equipment does not get wet. 

Also, we need to go out to film with a few hours to spare as we want to try and film whilst it has stopped raining as we do not want the rain to be visible in all of our shots. 

First Day Of Filming

We chose to use the black background room in college for the first day of our filming. We thought it will be sensible using the college black background room first because we have half term next week and we will not be allowed to come into college.

We set up the room to how we wanted it by using the black carpet and adjusting the black curtains so you can not notice that it is a curtain to make our location look professional and realistic.

After setting up the location we had to find the correct type of lighting because we did not want it to be dark that you cant see me "James" or too bright that you can notice that the background is a curtain and we had to adjust the lights into an angle so you cant see my shadow.

As we started recording, Elisha and Jessica decided to go and buy lazers to create a mysterious effect and a victimising atmosphere which relates to our song because a lazer connotes a gun targeting someone.

Production- Day 1 Of Filming

Today it was our first day of filming in the green room. Setting up consisted of specialised lighting, arranging tables and chairs so they are not in our way of filming, this is also a risk we avoided. We had to control the lighting in order for it to look right in every shot. wE also set out black flooring to fit the idea of a black room which we created with the black curtains in the green room.  In todays filming we had many close ups, mid shots, side shots, high angled shots and wide shots.

Production - Day 1 of Filming

Today was our first day of filming for the final music video. We began in the green room which we had booked prior the lesson. We gave ourselves half an hour to set up the set, which included:

• Moving the green screen
• Readjusting the black backdrop
• Laying out the black mats
• Moving the tables and chairs
• Setting up the lighting
• Setting up the camera
• Setting up the song to play in the background

We also made a list before the filming session of targets and shots to tick off during filming to make sure we do not forget anything and to keep us on schedule. We managed to shoot everything in the order that we planned and we made sure we avoided all the problems we had during the test shots. However, we did have a few problems when we tried to get the perfect lighting which took a while. We had problems with shadows of the camera being seen in the shot, or shots that were too dark or too bright. But we got there in the end... After one too many clicks.
We filmed for 2 hours and within that time, we filmed several base tracks and cut away shots. We made sure that we remembered all the technical aspects we learned from filming in AS. For example, we remembered the rule of thirds. We ensured that every shot was shot correctly and we did them more than once so that we have extra shots for when we go into the editing suite.

We felt that the session was successful and we really enjoyed filming, we look forward to going out and filming the rest of our video!

Production - Day 1 Filming

Day 1:

The first location that we filmed at was in the green screen in college. We had to set up the room so that it will enhance our artist's performance. To do this, we made sure that the curtains were positioned properly so the creases wouldn't be seen. Also, we laid out a black mat on the floor so that the carpet wouldn't show whilst filming. This is to ensure that the result of the footage is as professional as possible. 

After that was set up, we had to adjust the lighting in the room so that it suited the atmosphere we wanted to create which was loneliness and oppression. We had some difficulties with lighting because of the positioning of our camera woman and performer. Shadows of the camera and us were reflected onto our performer because we stood directly in front of the light. However, this was solved in due time! (Thankfully!)

Revising Dot Rotten - Overload Lyrics

Feedback from Test Shots

I asked my brother to watch our practice video and here are the points in which he suggested we could improve on:

• The light balance in the video needs to promote the artist
• Camera needs to be in focus and not blurry 
• Ensure that the performance of the artist is planned accurately
• The artist should avoid wearing black clothing whilst filming with a black background
• Make sure that the camera is more stable whilst filming

All these comments will be taken into consideration before filming. Constructive criticisms from an external point of view are very useful as the video is something new that they haven't seen before and therefore it would be easier for them to give feedback on improvements. 

Planning - Test Shots Evaluation

Planning - Inspiration

Initially we wanted to edit our music video so that it's in a chronological order beginning with daylight and gradually going into night time. However, we felt that this would not be possible for us to do because firstly we wouldn't be able to cut our base tracks so that it would be in a chronological order and secondly this would affect our production schedule as this would be that for some base tracks we would need to film at night time and we may not have enough time to complete filming. Also, if we needed extra footage it would be difficult to re-film the same footage again. This idea came from the associations of entrapment and oppression. The poems in which I am studying in English inspired me as it talks about the cycle of life and how its just ongoing. Therefore, in relevance to the story to our music video it relates to the suffering and pressure of life. 

Planning- Props, Editing and Costume

When it comes to props and editing, I think this is the main aspects that will make our video what it should be.

The mise en scene will be very dominant in our music video. For instance we will have  a lot of lighting, and additional lighting like flashlights and lasers.

Lasers

This will create the effect of confusion and the speedy flashes portrays impact and chaos  Also will make the music video colourful when shooting with a black screen. Despite this, it will also add to the genre of dub-step with normally introduce lights and lasers, so we did not challenge this theme but went with it.

Fizzy drink (coke)

This idea came into mind when my group decoded the word 'Overload' and decided to shoot a fizzy drink exploding/going over its top. This will be added as an extra shot to add to the speed, we will manipulate this by rewinding, slowing down and speeding up. Shooting this will have risks especially with the equipment so we are still pending on this idea.

Powder/painkillers

Adds to the theme of teenage life, and how many teenagers go to drugs etc. However in our music video we will not actually show usage of these substance, but creating a chaotic mess.

Costume is also important in our video, as we want to present our artist unfold from sanity into insanity, we can show this by his clothing from a suit to casual clothing. In one of our shots he will furiously rip his tie due to all the stress.













Also for our editing process, we will use split screen, mirror effects and shaky screen effects.

Planning - Filming Test Shots

These are photos we took when we were filming our test shots in the green screen. As you can see we were experimenting with the lighting of the room, the angle and distance at which we felt would be most effective to film at for our actual recording. We recorded from high angles, close ups, mid shots and low angles. These were all useful in showing us what would work best and what we will avoid when we come to film on Monday. Overall, this was very successful as shown in our test shot video in our previous blog.

Planning - Story Board

Planning - Test Shot Problems

*click to enlarge*

Planning - Reflection of Progress

Planning - Test Shots

We have filmed test shots in todays lesson to prepare us for Monday's filming session in the green room. This process allows us to overcome any trouble that we may face in Monday's session. Also, to familiarize us with filming and editing using a base track.

We thoroughly enjoyed filming and editing. It was the first time we have done some editing to the song and it has shown us that we need to make sure we have enough base tracks and shots to edit with the fast pace beat in the song. Overall, we found it really fun and we cannot wait to film the real thing.

Planning - Monday Lesson

During our three hour lesson on Monday, we will be filming in the 'Green Room'. We have booked our place for the lesson and we have our shots and base tracks planned. 

In addition to filming parts of the music video in the Green Room, we will be vlogging and taking photos of our filming process. 

Planning - Our Audience

Having chosen our song and made potential ideas for our music video. We need to consider an important aspect - the core target audience.

We decided that our core target audience will be people from the ages of 16-19 with a male skew. This age group are more likely to be attracted to our high energy, dub-step song choice. Additionally, our use of intertexuality from two Kanye West's music videos, (All of the Lights and N*ggas in Paris) will contribute to appealing to our specific target audience as they tend to really enjoy his music videos.

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF OUR CORE AUDIENCE

Lucas black, lives in South London

Male, British

Part time job in retail

Shops in Asda's, M&S and Tesco's

Spare time - Goes out with friends, parties, shopping

Reads Metro and The sun

Uses the public transport (bus and train)

Owns an iPhone and blackberry, Mac laptop

Nike, Vans, Converse

Likes to travel to brick lane to shop

Enjoys to drink Monster, Water, and Orange juice

Enjoys the tropical island Ibiza and Marbella

Loves the dubstep genre because its upbeat, makes friends through the genre, its really exciting in Concerts and clubs, feels different when he listens to it (can relate)

WIDER AUDIENCE

This will be most ages over 25. Just as the staff in HMV suggested, the dubstep genre can appeal to over 25's because of the smart formal clothing in the videos, also through the intelligent lyrics and the song has references to political issues.

GENERAL EXAMPLE OF AUDIENCE

Males shop in Footasylum, Topman, JD Sports, Size, Schuh and Office - Casual

Some may or may not have jobs (part time)- mostly in retail and supermarkets

Working-middle class students

Planning- Audience Task

Having an audience is a fan base for any artist, which is very important in the music industry.  For my chosen video, my group and I have set a core and wider audeince. Audeinces targetted are of the ages 16-25. This age range is very significant as people of this age group (young adults) are likely to listen to dubstep, dance/grime genre, as our Artist is upcoming form the South London area, this will atttract people of his age.
This is important because without an audience, our artist will not have succeeded the standard any artist should. In addition to this it is significant to attract people that tend to listen to this genre in music.

Planning - Additional Locations

These are two extra locations that we have considered filming at. The first two images are in Limehouse and the last image is in Mile End.We reconsidered our location choices because we are aware that we might have difficulties getting permission to film in some of our chosen locations. Also, we decided that these locations will suit our song choice as these places don't have a lot of people and therefore this can enhance the meaning of our song; loneliness and oppression.

Planning - Making our animatic

Here are some screen shots showing the process of constructing our animatic. We used Final Cut Pro to compose this will still images taken from our storyboard. This was effective in showing us what we needed to do in our actual music video. For example, due to the lack of time we were not able to incorporate as much editing as we desired. However, reviewing  it has made us realise that editing will be an imperative to produce the perfect music video as Overload is a fast paced and upbeat song.

Planning- Rota Schedule

We have arranged a Rota Schedule on how the equipment will be kept safe:

This rota ensures that every hour the equipment is checked and safe by each person in the group.

Planning - Shots

Here is a flow chart/diagram that I have created that illustrates the different shots that we intend on using throughout the music video. I feel that these shots and the emphasis of close ups will ensure that the main focus is on the performer and that he gets promoted well. 

Final Pitch

Planning - Audience task

Planning - Editing and Props

Pitch - Question 12

Risk Assessment

While using the equipment in our chosen locations there will be many risks and cautions we have to be aware of. For instance when crossing the roads we will have to look out for incoming cars or people, making sure the equipment is in our reach and not in any sort of risk of being stolen or damaged. Filming, we will have to get permission to film in places that are of high security, for example the 02 Arena. To minimise dangers such as dropping equipment, losing, or damaging, we will set a rota for each member of the group to look after the equipment. Also when we are out every hour we are out we will do a list check of the equipment we have brought out. This will ensure that we will be organised and keep secure of what we have and what we will do during our time of filming.

Dangers that we could come across is mainly damaging the equipment and not looking after it the way we should or if it rains,  however we will minimise this by keeping the equipment in there packaging when not using it, when using it we will take care in what we do, be cautious of where we go and taking an umbrella to prevent the equipment from being exposed to water. Going to and from places there will be many risks, to avoid this we will have to be very careful with the equipment, ensuring nothing will be damaged.
Also we must be wary when filming during the evening as it gets dark, to make sure we take everything we brought with us and to get home safely with the equipment. 

Pitch- Question 8: Who would your artist be signed to?

Planning - Analysis of Overload - Original video