Risk assesment

For the risk assessment list I didn’t have much to include as our music video will only be filmed in the studio with save objects. However, we do have to film a bird’s eye view shot which can be dangerous to shoot as it has to be filmed from a high hight on a platform. However this platform can only be used by the staff, so it represents a danger only of them, and not the students.

 

Shooting schedule

This is a shooting schedule that I have done to make sure that on that we all know exactly what to do on the shooting day. This will help us do one task at a time properly and also be aware of the time and how long a task should take. 

To do this schedule, I wrote the time when we will start each task, the description of it, the location, cast, the costumes that will be needed and the props. 

 

Digipaks design

This is a version of how I imagine the digipack of the album OFF/ON by Death Hags which contains the song “Future Now”. 

I choose this colour palette because the song has a tone of rock to it due to the instrumental style of the band (emphasis on the drums and guitar in the song “Future Now”). I choose to do a abstract digital work in Painter on my iPad for the digi packs because I wanted to emphasise the spiritual vibe to it and the psychedelic and trippy atmosphere of the music we are trying to “sell”.
 

Analysis of digipack conventions in my genre

Because we changed the song during our project, our genre conventions changed as well: from soul, R&B to psychedelic pop.

Taking this into consideration, we have to do another digipack analysis.

Editing - picture sinking

Today we had a class about editing a music video where we were explained how to sink pictures with music.

Steps of editing overall: performance cut, narrative cur, effects, colour

Sinking the videos:

will be done through the help of a video with a time code. When we will be recording in the studio we will be playing this video on an iPad. After the music is bought, the beginning of the video with a time code will be added before the music starts. Then, when editing, we have to get the playback head on a random number of the video, and press pause on “i” and then find the same number on the timeline. (Then when dragging the video we don’t need the sounds so we have to press the “drag video only). The same can be done with the help of the video’s sounds 

How to cut a music video: 

There are a few rules which if they will be followed it’s impossible to cut it wrong. The first rule is LISTEN TO THE MUSIC AND ILLUSTRATE WHAT YOU HEAR - you hear the voice, then you put a closeup of the singer in; you hear the drums, you put a closeup of the drums in and so on. The second rule is GROUP THE SHOTS TOGETHER. Rule three is FOLLOW THE MOVEMENT - if the actor moves down, then it’s gonna cut to a shot where it’s going to complete the move by continuing the movement in the next shot.

Tips: mad detail is good

Analysis of social media campaign

 Looking at the instagram account of the singer of our chosen song, I noticed an overall vibe of the genre psychedelic pop throughout the colour palette (muted tones with a few pop colours) and through the psychedelic patterns in some of the edits. 

I also noticed that the simplicity of her style gives off a “I don’t care, I am cool without even trying” attitude which reaches her target audience well (18 - 35 year olds). 

She has a few posts (28 posts) which I think is the reason why she has only 4012 followers. Her videos are not that professional which although matches her vibe, could be improved. 

Test shoot and editing it on IMovie

Today Pandors, Lily and I shoot the test shoot. At first we wanted to shoot in the media studios, but as it wasn’t available, we shoot it in a classroom which actually turned out to be more similar to out ‘shack’ set design. We also had a problem with one of the members of the group who just disappeared before we started to shoot so we decided that we were going to change hip with another guitarist, because he was really unprofessional. 

After that we took a couple of shots such as mid shots, closeups frames filmed from a low angle, birds eye view and so on. After we shoot everything, Alex put all the footage in Imovie cronologically and we started editing. However, when we started cutting the footage, I realised there are not enough shots (we forgot to do closeups of the guitarists and of the drummer) so I had to film my arms pretending to play the drums and alex pretending to play the guitar.

 To edit the test shoot Alex and I used the Imovie app from my phone. It took us two hours to do it, but we mannaged to put a decent video together. From this process I feel more prepared for when we will actually have to edit the music video and I have a clearer idea abou how many shots and how they will look on the screen. I also have more ideeas now about how to tell the actors to act and more ideas of creative frames which will keep the viewers interested and engaged. When editing, we experimented with techniques we learned in the media lesson today, such as following the movement (in the quitarist close up alex looks down at her arm and then we added a shot of her arm). 

Conclusion: We have to make a list of all the shots that we need so that on the shoot day we will be prepared and be sure that we won’t forget to shoot something and then wake up in the editing suit with not enough footage.

This is the link to our test shoot: https://youtu.be/8g301qnFG1o

Props treatment

 Today I did a props treatment with Pandora and Lily’s help. We created these treatments to have a clear plan and a list of what each of us needs to get before the shooting day.

Props list

 

1.     Lilly

a.     Jars

b.     Fairy lights

c.      Beads for window

2.     Alex

a.     Jars

b.     Fairy lights

c.      Crystals

d.     Tarot cards

3.     Pandora 

a.     Jars

b.     Fairy lights

c.      Fabrics for the floor

d.     Sage

4.     Maia

a.     Jars

b.     Vintage objects

c.      Fairy lights

d.     Books

e.     Record player & vinyl

5.     Drama department 

a.     Bean bags (hurt wood has plain red bean bags incase).                

b.     Cloth

c.      Fairy lights

 

Conclusion: We now know what each of us need to get, and we are prepared. We also added new props (a record player and one of my vilyls), which we want to use in establishing shot so that we would create the impression that a part of the song is played on the record player. We will have to talk with our teachers about this change though.

Planning test shoot

 Today the team and I spent time planning each shot in each set in order to be prepared for the rehearsal from today. 

To do that, we listened the song very carefully and Lily and I updated some of the treatments. 

We also did a short list of the types of shots of the frames that we are going to film so that we don’t have to think about them on the moment and be prepared:

To meet up with the whole band and the singer Lily and Pandora texted most of the band members and I texted Kate (the singer).

Test shoot with the main singer

 Today Alexandra and I rehearsed some of the shots with the main singer which we know for sure now that is going to be Kate. We did this rehearsal only with her because the members of the band couldn’t show up so we tried to film the sets where she will be the only one in the frame.

At first we tried out the shot which will be filmed in the ‘jars’ set where Kate will sit on the groud sorrounded by jars and loose materials which will fly arround, filling up the frame and covering the walpaper. 

Conclusion: This was Kate’s first time doing a rehearsal and she was still really confident as soon as we started filming which is really good for us because it meand that she will be easy to film with on the shooting day.

After this, we tried out the ‘auras’ set which we improvised by using the tube gels and a transparent walpaper in front of the light (Alex was holding the lights and moving them arround, and I was playing the song, filming and using a phone’s flashlight so that Kate’s face would still be visable in the video alrhough the lights were turned off). In this set every ‘actor’ will take part of it, but they will each be filmed individually.

Conclusion: By trying out this set we realised that this way lighting is defenatelly succesfull, but we have to find a different way to light her face from the front and not just from the back. I also think it would be to simple to just play with the lights in this set, so I think it would be a good idea to use the smoke in this set. 

Set supervisor meeting

 Today we had a meeting with a supervisor and one of out teachers about the sets. We presented them the treatments that we have done yesterday and sketches. I the presented the key words of out video (hippie, trippie) and the idea of each shot and how we imagine it.

After presenting everything, we were told that the sets are good, except the one with the bottles. We were told that it the bottles can give the impression that the singer has just drunk all of them and now she’s drunk and that is now what we are after. We were then suggested to use jars instead of bottles. Similarly, we were told we could also use a material just like the one in the photo and a fat to have the loose material fly around the actors and the jars and lights. 

For the shot with the colourful backgrounds (which are meant to replicate auras) we were suggested to use smoke to fill the space up.

Conclusion: The sets are overall good, which means that we can start looking for props. For this week what we have left to do is shoot the test shoot and edit it, so for this to happed we will have to organise a couple of rehearsls with the cast and film. Alex will be editing the test shoot and Pandora, Lily and I will be organising the meeting s and film it.

Planning the sets

 Today Lily and I started thinking about the test shoot and clarifying all the sets that we talked about last week. We did that by creating some treatments with photos form Pinterest which match the set that we have in our minds as best as possible.

 After creating them, we printed each treatment out so that we can have a better idea regarding how everything will look like and also so we could present the sets at the meeting we will have tomorrow. 

I also did a couple of sketches so that we can imagine how the sets will look like with the actors. 

Conclusion: Now we have a clear idea of how the sets look like and we are ready to film the test shoot and also present it to our teachers and a supervisor who is coming tomorrow to advise us. The shots are: the one with the wood background and the video projector, the one with the auras and the one with the bottles and light inside.

Group discussion about the set

 Today we had another meeting with my group and a teacher, but in the studio this time. We talked about each setting for each shot that we are going to do for our music video. To do that we all said aour ideeas and brainstormed them together. 

At first someone came up with the idea for the first set: with a video projector we will project a moving image of the see which will foreseen through wood planks. 

The second idea which I came up with is a frame of the main singer sitting down on the floor singing, surrounded by green bottles with lights in them which will create a overall green lighting in the set.

The third idea I came up with is a couple of short close-up shots of each person in the band and the main singer on different coloured backgrounds.

The forth idea Lily came out with is using some textile materials with holes and filming the singer through a whole. We then could even have the singer look into the material’s hole and the create a PVA shot of what she sees in there e.g. a whole other wired universe edited in a computer programme. 

I also came up with a idea to film a bird eye view shot of some of the actors sitting on the floor surrounded by some wired materials or dome printed photos. The inspiration for this shot is form the film “Requiem for a dream”. 

Casting

For the cast we will have to look for a singber, two guitarists, a basist and a drummer. 

For the singer, Alex and I already have an ideea: we want to ask Kate who is an A1 from out house to be the main singer because she definitelly fits within the style that we are looking for: hippie. 

For the band we are we are considering David as our drummer, Lenol or Max for the first guitarist and Oscar for the second guitarist.

Group disscution

 Today we had a separate disscution from the whole class with the teachers and the group. I showed them the song I found(“ON/OFF”) and they all agreed on it saying that it’s defenetily easier to do then the previous song because it’s a band and it gives us more to point the camera at. 

After listening to it a couple of times we all agreed that the style this song gives off is a ‘free stirit’, ‘hippy’ style. We would a main female singer and a male band in the background, all being hippies who met on a beach and are just chilling, enjoing life and freely expressing themselfs through spiritual stuff or art (the kind of people who would have crystals in their room wired meaningful objects).  

Our teacher presented us a movie called “Point Break” and a band called “Tremolo beer gut” which is in a similar style. 

The movie “Point Break” is a 1991 American film which presents some characters which can relate to the style that we are aiming at. 

The cover of this film has very 90’s vibes because of the colourpalette and the simple font of the letters. Also the colours seem a bit washed. 

I will watch the movie tonight to understand this style and way of living better and see what could inspire our music video. 

Choosing a new song

 In today’s lesson, we had another disscusion with my team and the teachers. Talking about everything that we have researched and the style that we want to do for the music video, we were told that it simply still doesn’t match the happy tone of the song that we had chosen and also that the song we had chosen is more of a video that would have to be shot outside in a city, whereas we are in the countryside where we only have access to a studio. After a while of thinking what to do, we were proposed to look at other song from the same artist, Edy Blue. After listening to all of her songs we had found a couple of songs called “All the Beautiful girls” which is more moody, “Bliss” which is more up-beat and Original which is really energetic.

After listening to these three songs together as a group, we all agreed that “All the Beautiful Girls” is the most suitable because it matched the last version of our mood boards: moody, nostalgic.

However, when showing the song to our teachers they said that this song is to complicated because not only is a single artist which already is more complicated then a band, but it also has lyrics that are hard to work with (repetitive sounds which are actually meant to be sang with an audience in a live performance). 

At this point we decided we have to choose another artist because this one simply doesn’t have any songs that would suit a music video filmed in a studio. 

After the lesson I started looking at other songs on band camp.

In 20 minutes I managed to find some songs that could work such as “OFF/ON” by Death Hags, “For My Animals” by American Culture, “I feel alive” by TOPS and “color theory” by Soccer Mommy. I then screenshot the songs and sent the to our teams’s group chat on Snapchat to let them now that this is what I had found so far.

Later today, I meet with Alexandra to listen to the songs I had found together. We both agreed that “OFF/ON” by Death Hags would be the best option for a few reasons: it’s a band which we can easily cast as I had casted some boys from a band a few weeks ago for my previous team, it has a lot of interesting instrumental elements to it.

Conclusion: We will probably change the song to “OFF/ON” by Death Hags, but I have to talk to the whole team tomorrow to hear their opinion before making any decisions. If we choose this song we really just talk about how do we see the main singer dress up, in what environment they would hang out in and what are they intersted in. We also have to think about casting and the band’s style. Only after that will we have to redo all the mindmaps/ treatments.

The new style of the music video

 Today we had a discussion about where our group is at with the project. After showing our teachers the mood boards and the videos we took inspiration from, we were told that the style that we choose (very clean, elegant and simple frames with saturated colours and nature elements such as plants and flowers) is not that relevant to the song. 

Listening to the song again and again together, we all agreed that the vibe we all get from the tone of the song is urban, retro vibes with a vintage, 2000th style. 

After agreeing as a group on the style of the video, we assigned work to each other: each of us redid the mood boards for the costumes, studio set up, props and the overall amd the overall style.

This is the mood board I’ve done of the overall style that we are now aiming for:

Conclusion: The new style is urban, vintage, retro and 2000th fashion. For props Pandora will get a record player form her relative and we have to find a retro small TV. We are also planning on using a vintage sofa. I will also get some vinyls from Remi who works at the art department from our school (he used to have a record shop). I am also planning on going to Brick Lane vintage market to get some vintage props.

Rehersals in the studio

 Today Pandora and I did a rehearsal with Laura and Ari in the studio which we have booked earlier today. 

At first, we explained what we think the music video will overall look like at this point, and we showed them the treatment and some photos that I’ve found on pinterest which have a similar tone to what we are aiming for. After talking to them about what their attitude have to be in the video (calm, nostalgic, confident), we asked them to lip-sink the song’s lyrics separately and the together. 

When filming them I tried to get all the angles and mostly mid-shots and close ups to have an ideea how they will look like in the in the video. 

This rehearsal helped us see if they are confident or not in front of the camera and if their look is suitable for this song. Rehersing is also a good way to making the actors be prepared and also not forget that they are part of this too.

Conclusions: We think Laura suits the singer’s voice the most, but Ari seems more confident in front of the camera. However, I think this is only because it was the first rehearsal l and Laura might have been just confused about what to do being her first time. We will do another rehearsal next week to get them used to being filmed and to the the lip-sinking.

CD & vinyls analysis

 In order to understand the genre of Soul and jazz better, I went (with Alexandra Mills who is in my group)to someone who used to work in a record player and I took some photos of CD cases and that I found from this genre. Later in the week I went to Brick lane and found a record shop in which I found these Soul vinyls. 

CD analysis: Music by Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Olive, Moby, Beth Orton, Groove Armada

Genre: pop

Although, this is a Pop CD I still took a photo as our song had some pop influences as well and the case of this CD has a similar vibe to our song.

Looking at the cover of the case, the colour palette is quite calm, neutral and with earthy tones, The light colours gives a sense of calm songs, with quite a happy tone on which people chan just chill on.

Vilyls analysis: All the vilyls I had photographed are from the Soul genre. What I can see the overall have in common is the warm undertone and an 80’s vibe to it. There are also a lot of covers which have the artists’s face on it considering that they are trying to advertise the artist and also use their beauty and style for their bennefit and attract more people to buy it. 

Workshop - lighting

 Today we talked about lighting and we were presented different types of lighting. 

Types of light:

Red head light - this is one of the main lights in the studio. It’s really powerfull and when we film with it it almost certainly going to blow. To tone down this powerful light we can use a frost which won’t set on fire (the lights hit the frost and start to break down the light). 

A blonde - this is a way brighter light and it stays in teh back to give depth tho the shot. It gives us something to edge the subject out from the background.

Types of use of the lights:

Single point lighting - one light source

Three point lighting - interview 

Key light - the most important light

The fill light - the second light and fills in the shadows 

(Usually when using a blonde there is a white “dirty light” in the background which cand be get ridden of with the Matt box)

There are also other materials which can be used to tone down the powerfull light such as theater flat which is a plastic wall through light is broken up so much that it almost even gets rid of shadows. 

There are also some coloured light which just make everything look good called tube gels. The gels are the coloured plastic over the light.

Conclusion: This workshop was really succesfull as I learned so much about types of lighting which I am defenatelly going to use of the shooting day. My favourite type of lights are the tube gels and the blonde because the tube gels just make everything look so interesting due to their color and the blonde just emphasises the beauty of the actor su much. What I also like abou the tube gels is that they can also be part of the shot and fill in a gap of the shot.